Lovely Magical Collectible Waifu Game of Death!
by OverMaster
Summary: It's a familiar story. Emiya Shirou summons Saber, a blonde female warrior from the times of Camelot, to fight as his Servant in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Except because Fuyuki City was fully destroyed ten years ago, Shirou now has two little sisters competing over him, each little sister has a Servant of her own, and why has Sakura just summoned herself anyway?
1. You Never Should Meet Your Heroes

Saber, the brave paladin wielding a sword.

Archer, the daring bowman dealing death from afar.

Lancer, the gallant spearman.

Rider, the horseback knight galloping into battle.

Caster, the astute sorcerer casting spells.

Berserker, the crazed warrior running amok.

Assassin, the silent murderer wrapped in shadows.

These are the seven Classes meant for Heroic Spirits, extraordinary souls who once reshaped the history of humanity. Bound to human Masters, these Servants shall fight for the ultimate prize, the sacred cup able of granting any wish, the Holy Grail of Fuyuki City.

However, sixty years ago, the Grail was corrupted, its esence tainted beyond repair. And ten years ago, its contents spilled all over Fuyuki City, destroying and burning it down to the ground.

But evil would not die easily.

And neither would hope...

Such is the Fate of Man.

* * *

 _Fate Stay Night_ , _Fate Prototype_ , _Fate Zero_ , _Fate Hollow Ataraxia_ , _Fate EXTRA_ , _Fate Extella_ , _Fate Apocrypha_ , _Fate Strange/Fake_ , _Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya_ , _Fate Requiem, Fate School Life_ and _Fate Grand Order_ all are the creation and intellectual property of Nasu Kinoko and Type-Moon.

All other featured and mentioned franchises belong to their respective copyright owners.

With Special Thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, Darkenning, Kamenhero25, Moczo, Ol'Vesper, GhostXavier and The Infamous Man for the inspiration.

* * *

 **Lovely Magical Collectible Waifu Game of Death!**

* * *

 **Chapter Zero.**

* * *

 **You Should Never Meet Your Heroes.**

* * *

There are all sorts of unwritten rules when it comes to narrating a legend, or even a plain old story. They are conventions those who listen to such fare tend to expect, and unless they are smartly subverted, they tend to disappoint whenever they are broken. One of those involves the opening act of your tale for the ages, which usually should feature a meaningful, decisively establishing scene of your hero or their antagonist. This picture should convey the type of story your narrative will be; if we are to deal with, let us say, a retelling of King Arthur's glorious saga, we might be expected to open with a scene depicting young Arthur, or illustrious King Uther, or Merlin, greatest of sages.

This story, instead, begins with a failure of a young woman rising from her bed, somewhere in the hills of Eastern Europe.

Messy, long dark gray hair splayed all over her face, this woman, who at the very least was gifted with noticeable physical beauty, sat up on the fine mattress of her large, expensive bed, in a bedroom almost as wide as most commoners' whole houses, and then farted with the grace and elegance of a true aristocrat. Pulling the disorganized bangs off her fair and mature features, she stood up in nothing but skimpy black panties and an unbuttoned night shirt dangling from her shoulders, and then yawned, lazily scratching the back of her right hand. Damn it, but it really itched this morning, what had she been doing with it this time...?

Then she took a good look at it.

"Oh, motherfucking shit," she muttered to herself. "You've got to be kidding me."

The bright red marks on her skin were shaped like an ellaborate set of sharp wings, with a smaller subset of wings underneath, both of them perfectly symmetrical. They ended up in a pair of elongated peaks at the top, pointing upwards. Angrily, she rubbed on them with her other hand, balled up into fist. "Get off, get off, damn you...!"

After a few moments of that, when her hands ached and the godforsaken there remained there stubbornly clear as before, the young lady- she was twenty six, but she took good care of her lucks and could pass for a solid three or four years younger- stopped and grimaced at it, squinting before reaching for a set of sophisticated glasses on her oak nightstand. She put them on, squinted again to take another look at the offending marks under the early sunlight coming through her window, and began chewing cruelly on her lower lip, as if doing her best to make it bleed. "Why me, this isn't fair at all...!"

Finally accepting reality for what it was and sighing, she let her arms drop by her sides and her head hang down. After a few moments of remaining perfectly still like that, the woman groaned, pulled a robe out of her huge closet, tied it up around herself in angry haste, and stomped out of the room, slamming the door closed behind her.

Fuming and tighening a silk handkerchief pulled out of a pocket of the robe around her marked hand until it ached, this embittered character stalked through the long, illustrious hallways of the Yggdmillennia Castle, ignoring the bowings and the soft greetings of the pale faced maids and butlers she found along her way.

"Good morning, Lady Celenike..."

"What's so good about it?!" she snapped, never stopping.

"How are you today, Master Celenike?"

"Is that any business of yours?!" she growled, fastening her pace.

"Screw you, Miss Celenike."

Celenike Icecolle Yggdmillennia stopped abruptly at these unexpected words, then stared in sheer furious disbelief at the butler who had just uttered them, and now who now paused in as much quiet surprise as a homunculus could, taking a hand to his mouth and gazing down at it.

Celenike hissed, readying her left hook, Magical Circuits glowing through her skin in eerie light blue from the lower arm to the wrist, and then the palm and fingers. Thusly charged, she slammed her fist on the butler's face, roaring _"Very funny, Roche!"_

As soon as this was done, she turned back and kept on stomping the way she had been going, mumbling curses in seven different languages as she did. Nursing his dislodged jaw carefully, the butler began heading towards Master Roche's workshop for repairs.

Celenike entered the female baths reserved for the mistresses of the house, which meant she had the whole place to herself, as the only other person in the castle who qualified for that title never came around. Celenike guessed she had to take sponge baths at her living quarters, whatever, it was not like she cared. Still huffing in disbelief, she took the robe off, then the shirt and the panties, and hung them aside before taking her glasses off, placing them on an ivory-topped stool and then entering her favored shower stall, setting the water ice cold as she liked it best. Breathing out and relaxing under the spray, she closed her eyes and washed her hair down, then massaging her stiff neck and pressing on the right spots; it was only once she was calmed enough that she undid the handkerchief and looked again at the Command Seals, now with an expression of pained concern rather than wrath. Almost childishly, she put the hand under the stream of water and rubbed it, up and down, vigorously, but she knew it'd be to no avail even as she did it. She gave up after a few minutes, when the whole back of the hand was almost as red as those intrincate drawings on the flesh.

"I should be happy..." she moaned to herself.

But then, it came as no surprise either. She had never been happy anyway.

* * *

"I ask of you, is this not a miracle?"

Far, far away, somewhere in one of several small islands at the East, a woman stood before her congregation, in the belly of a large, pure white building, a secluded church in the hills. She was tall and slender, with a beautiful figure wrapped in the altered habits of a Catholic sister, modified in such a way they conveyed both the rigors of her duties and the tempting allure of sexuality about to burst at any time. The long slits at the sides of her legs, allowing her for better mobility, were an important part of these modifications, not that they were visible right now for the crowd, as she stood behind the pulprit.

Instead, their eyes were focused on the hand she raised for all to see, proudly showing off blood red marks taking the shape of several stylized feathers converging downwards into a pointy weren't even visible for those not sitting in the first rows, but their faith still moved them to awe and marvel, whispering praise and joy under their breaths, but never loud enough as to distract themselves from her firm, vigorous speech.

"I have been visited by the stigma, brothers and sisters!" she announced. "A proof of God's boundless love, cast upon us all. I, Sessyoin Kiara, swear before you honoring this blessing, as the vessel of our Lord's will. I won't lie to you, brothers and sisters! Times of hardships are ahead of us, but I shall take the blunt of them for you! I shall venture into the Holy Crusade and triumph so you can live and prosper. I have no reason to fear, for I am under His wing, and so are you, forever and ever, Amen. Can you share an Amen?"

"Amen, Sister Kiara!" they chorused, standing up as one.

The woman took a hand to her cheek, blushing intensely and bringing her legs together, already thrilled by their devotion. "My beloved..." she softly said, her gaze travelling all over them, the beautiful and the ugly, the young and the old, the males and females. She loved them all equally, and whenever they raised their voices together, her heart could not help racing madly. "I will not disappoint you, I swear. For the nature of our unbreakable bonds, forged in the testing fires of faith and persecution, have made our collective undefeatable!" she placed both hands on the pulprit, pressing down strongly. "No matter the odds, no matter the risks, I shall brave them, I shall emerge victorious, so we can share the sweet fruits of complete achievement! Amen!"

 _"AMEN!"_ they cried, and Kiara honestly cried, wiping tears of happiness from the corner of an eye.

"Thank you," she told them. "Thank you so very much, for your trust and love. You are God's greatest proof He cares for me, that He wants us to succeed in His holy name. And now this," she gently caressed the marks, like one would do to a newborn, "will guide us into that new era that these happy shared times are naught but a prologue to. Amen. Brothers, sisters, it is time," she panted. "Let us be together."

The younger, black haired woman standing in silence behind Kiara approached her, and began to respectfully take the nun's headwear off as she smiled and started undoing her habit. "Thank you, Kaori-chan," Kiara sweetly said, looking as her disciples began stripping eagerly, several already groping and fondling each other. "I shall be needing your assistance during my mission, will you not mind that?"

Sakaki Kaori sounded charmed while letting Kiara's long dark hair flow back freely, cascading around her shoulders and down the smooth back that was being bared as the sister pulled the habit down, no underwear beneath it, and the hair also tickled Kaori's nose, almost playfully. "It is the greatest of honors, Sage Mother," she purred, hands moving down to cup and massage Kiara's large, well rounded buttocks. "But, who will look after the Church in our absence?"

Kiara pointed down at a big, bald, obese man in the first row, with thick lips pressed against a young and frail novice's small pink mouth, his coarse hands expertly pulling her clothes off. "Don't fret. Majima-san is more than up for the task at hand."

She turned around, smirking seductively at Kaori, with half closed eyes full of mischievous malice. "Let us drink from this chalice together," Kiara proposed. "After me, you shall be the first to taste salvation born from depravation. We shall go preach among the beasts of the wild, the feral animals killing each other, and gain them over with our message of everlasting love. Yours and mine."

Kiara pulled Kaori roughly against herself, pressing her full lips against hers, and tugging on the buttons of the assistant's gray shirt, snapping them with great strenght. Just like her, Kaori had been wearing no bra, and promptly Kiara's mouth descended to the reasonably large- even if not as much as Kiara's- breasts, taking the right nipple between her teeth and starting pulling on it with them. Kaori arched her back and moaned over the gasps and sighs of the wildly copulating crowd below, and Kiara kept on fumbling with her short skirt while her tongue washed over the bite marks on the nipple. Soon the skirt was dropping around Kaori's ankles, and the young lady stepped out of them in a distracted way, mostly concentrated on how Kiara's hands were moving, one to Kaori's shaved crotch to skillfully play with her clitoris, and the other to sink a pointer and middle finger down the crevice of her most private and taboo oriffice, slowly pumping up and down.

"Mother..." Kaori wheezed, as the magic flowed out of Kiara and pushed and pressed into her key locations, reaching the most important nervous terminals for the proccessing of physical pleasure. Kiara smiled to herself, moving her mouth as to nibble and chew on the soft skin of Kaori's neck, focusing mostly on its left side. Kaori hugged her as if never wanting to let go and sobbed, spots of wonderful, unearthly colors dancing before her closed eyes and drilling their way into her mind. "I love you so much..."

"As do I, my dear child. As do I," this woman of great pull and forbidden mysticism cooed for her, meaning every word as she finger fucked her, with much more to come next.

And that absolute sincerity, as always, was exactly what made her all the more dangerous.

* * *

Yet somewhere else, in a city of bleak darkness, a man in a trenchcoat walked down lonely streets without any fear. The environments were almost hopelessly dismal, every shadow and each corner seemed to hide a different menace, and yet he strode confidently, with his hands in the pockets of the coat. He was fairly handsome, with bronzed skin that contrasted with his light blond hair, which fell to his back in well kept ponytail. The urban decay all around him disgusted him to no end, yet he remained contented enough the smug smile on his face remained firmly etched all the way through those dangerous streets with no guide or bodyguard. At least, no bodyguard any likely attackers could have seen...

At some point, when he was about to reach his destination, this man thought his Familiars, small vemin created through alchemy which had followed him since his departre from his posh hotel, had caught on something. Looking up, he glimpsed something large and black hanging from a building's fire escape. There was a whoosh of icy nocturnal wind, and something huge and fearsome flapped around this figure, making an ominous sound of gigantic wings. Immune to this kind of terror, whether by true courage or sheer foolishness, the man grinned, flashing perfect white teeth, and flipped his watcher a casual salute, ignoring the angry squinting of blank, hollow eyes while turning back the way he'd been following and whistling all the way through the last couple of blocks separating him from his destination.

His contact resided in an old brownstone, one untouched by the graffitti tags all over the neighboring buildings. A portly old woman with the face of a human bulldog came out to greet him after a few rings, frowning at him even as he showed his best false smile, grabbing her cold hand and kissing over the large, brownish spots. "Good evening, how do you do. I'm here to meet with Mister Blood."

"I know," she grunted, moved aside to let him walk in. "Last story, the first door at the right. Try not to break anything." Then she dragged herself back behind a counter, plopping down before a small television set and cursing as some white faced individual appeared on the screen, suddenly interrupting the talk show she had been watching.

Feeling his stomach churn out from the inside, the man considered placing a curse on her, but calculated that might inconvenience his contact, and besides, it looked like he would be hardly pressed to come up with a worse existence for that human wretch. Although he fancied himself imaginative. If he ever gained ultimate power, maybe he would return to this city someday and revisit her and a few others who had offended his senses since his arrival.

The building had no elevators, but being a magus, the man liked them better that way. In a short time he had reached the last story and the promised door, and just as he stopped before it, before he could ring, it went open, and a tall, grim man in a thick houserobe and slippers appeared, scowling. He had dark red hair with a single, large white streak at the middle of it, and clear eyes that were almost as hypnotizing as his visitor's. "You're late," he predicted, although the visitor did not take it that way.

"Yes, yes, my apologies," the younger man said, stepping in as the contact let him into the rather spacious and yet crowded studio filled with all sorts of ancient memorabilia, most of it demonic looking, closing the door after him. He took the trenchcoat off and hung it aside, standing in a dandy ensemble of fine black pants and a white shirt. "Are you aware the local boogeyman is patrolling this area?"

"He is no magus, but he has his own ways of knowing, Mister Galliasta," Jason Blood gloomily said, sitting down on an armchair and inviting Atrum Galliasta to do the same, with an identical seat before his. As the host poured tea for both, he explained, "Don't worry about him, more pressing issues have just called for his attention, I'm sure."

"I'm not worried about a mere man," Galliasta sneered, and the true man peeked through the layers of affability. "Do you have the catalyst?"

Jason Blood nodded. "After a lot of careful consideration, I have singled out the catalyst most adequate for a man like you. According to the Associations, you carry yourself as a thinker and planner, rather than a frontline fighter. At first I believed you would fit the role as the Master of an Assassin, but after some consulting with a... longtime internal source, I was convinced a Caster suits you the best."

"I'm fine with that," the visitor agreed, nodding. "Only an imbecile would aim for a Berserker, and the Knight Classes are stubborn and proud. I'd find myself much better with a fellow expert on the arcane. What do you have for me, then?"

Jason Blood extended a small package towards him, and Atrum took it promptly, unwrapping it and pulling out a set of archaic books, the covers written on Greek. He knew the language, so he flipped one of them open, read from it silence, and, after a few minutes, frowned deeply at his host. "This has to be a joke."

"Never from me," Jason Blood darkly said, folding his fingers together. "Out of all outcomes I researched, out of all permutations I calculated, this is your Fate, your path, your route. You only need to keep the specifics of her myth in mind."

"I see..." Atrum said after a moment spent pondering. He smiled. "Well, I can't say she isn't legendary enough. The bigger the obstacle to conquer, the better the man required to surmount it, and victory with this Servant will bring me untold accolades."

"It most certainly would," Blood nodded, but Atrum was too self absorbed into his dreams to pick on his choice of words.

"I will take them," he said, pushing the books back into the package. "The Association will pay you throught the usual channels. We are men of our word, as you know..."

"Men of the strict lettering of your word, I know," Blood observed. "That doesn't concern me. Wealth is not an issue for me anymore, and neither is for Clock Tower. But a word of advice before you go, Atrum Galliasta. Mind your actions and decisions once you put your sight into a given goal. I didn't, twice, and both times I lost what should have been the most valuable to me. My comrades, my family. Think your course sagely, and-"

The other man's smile became a downright sinister grin, as he raised his right hand, allowing the magic flow out, and the seals shaped like a complex schematics of curved lines splayed across his flesh flared to renewed life. "My course? My course is already written right here, Mister Blood."

"It is, yes," the expert nodded, leaving the fool to his own luck. "Good night then, Mister Galliasta. Until we meet again..."

And it has been said luck is a constant companion of the fools. This is often true, but had Atrum Galliasta bothered to look into Blood's eyes upon this promise, he would have noticed they were not a man's anymore, even if only for just a moment.

* * *

Another day passed, and the world kept on rotating as ever, the affairs of mundanes and mages transpiring the same ways they always did, for most. A select, precious few, however, were undergoing dramatic changes that would alter their existences forever. One such event would take place that next night, in the depths of a mountain state in the heart of the country that had once been called Germany, before a radical restructuring after the Second World War had renamed it Gartland.

Those political changes had meant nothing for the owners of the walled lands surrounding this huge stone castle, who kept on obeying their own set of laws. Those laws included that of the Survival of the Fittest.

Until now, the little girl had not realized how badly she wanted to live.

She ran up the snowy hill, on small, pale bare feet and wearing nothing but a thin nightshirt that reached all the way down to her knees. She was far more resiliant than the average girl her biological age, but she'd been racing long enough now she was exhausted, on her last fumes, while her pursuers remained strong and steady. She could hear their howls coming closer by the moment, mixed with hungry barks and vicious grunts, and briefly she thought she would not make it alive. At first she had been full of confidence, sure she would clear Grandfather's challenge easily, but now, for the first time since her parents' betrayal, she felt like calling herself foolish in her hopes. And yet something kept on spurring her uphill. She would have wanted to believe it was hope, or pride, but in her gut she had to recognize it for what it was.

Primal fear.

The pack closed in even further, and by now the tiny albino with long silver hair and red eyes could even listen to the sniffs and snorts coming from their snouts. On the plus side, and restarting that flickering light of belief within her, she also could see the large black slab of rock her Grandfather had planted on the agreed spot. Taken from a Greek island where myth had placed the battlefield for mighty Heracles and the Amazon Army, Justabeicht von Einzbern had it brought as the perfect catalyst for the strongest of heroes, the Prince of Power. The little girl nodded eagerly, feeling herself so close, and sening the Command Seals on her hand burn, then expanding their warmth through each Magic Circuit in her body. She leapt ahead for the huge piece of rock, crying out triumphally...

And then she flopped on her stomach on the snow, falling short of touching the goal. A large black wolf already was on her, snarling and chomping at her back, taking one piece of cloth off and barely missing ripping the delicate flesh beneath.

"No!" she wailed, flailing under the weight of the animal as more of them gathered around. "I can't die like this...!"

She spun around as best as she could, now resting on her back as the lead wolf drooled and howled on her tearful face. "Nooooo!" she said, kicking up and shaking her arms desperately towards the catalyst. "I promised! I can't fail now! I'm so close! So close! Please come to me! Please!"

The wolf brought its mouth down, chomping savagely.

 _"Please...!"_

Then there was a gigantic flash of light, and a dozen of wild wolves whined loudly at once. The rock crackled and trembled and fell, and something leapt up from the glowing spot where it had stood, jumping over the little girl and tackling on the wolf that had pinned her down, pounding on it and smashing it against the snow, several feet away from the gasping, amazed girl. The wolf was dead by the time they hit the snow, reduced to a pulp of blood, fur and shattering bone in those relatively small hands that tore it apart with great fury and insanity, the woman over it growling like a deranged beast herself.

Seven of the wolves remaining yelped and ran back into the woods. The others barked and charged ahead at the newcomer, who had mid-lenght silver hair and a toned, muscular body within the frame of a short height, if anything vaguely under the average of a contemporary European woman. She wore nothing but knee-tall metallic boots and elbow-lenght metal gauntlets, plus a form hugging cloth bikini, the top part white and that covering her crotch solid black. An iron collar braced her neck, and as the wolves ran to her, in her hands appeared, as if out of thin air, a long end of metallic chain finished at each end on oversized spiked balls. She swung these with no apparent effort at all and brutally crushed the head of the closet wolf, then swung a leg around and kicked another against a tree, also killing it instantly. The tiny girl made a soft, cooing sound, wobbling back to her feet, in complete love at first sight with this wonderful vision who had just mesmerized her. Was this Heracles... or might it be, perhaps, something even better...?

Yet another wolf turned back with the tail tucked between its legs and escaped into the woodland for dear life. The last one, the woman grabbed it by the snout and pulled it apart, literally ripping it by half with a crazed scream of victory, tossing the bloody halves aside as if they were nothing.

Then, and only then, she stared at the girl who had summoned her, with bloodshot fixed eyes, caked in the gore of the animals she had just killed.

"I... I am your Master..." this girl said with a tiny, almost broken voice, overwhelmed by the magnificence of this larger than life creature she had brought forth. "Illyasviel von Einzbern..."

 _ **"Queen..."**_ the woman growled slowly, hesitating for a moment before bowing her head, stiffly falling to a knee before Illyasviel until her forehead all but touched the snow. _**"Queen..."**_

Illyasviel gulped, but then tentatively reached out with a hand, stroking the woman's head, who did not move and kept on a respectful silence. Her hair felt so soft. Finally, the little albino smiled, with regained pride and trust. "Berserker."

 _ **"Yes..."**_

Illyasviel smiled evilly. "Yes. You will do..."

* * *

It was dawning over the fields of Southern France, now, and a woman of youthful appearance, with short black hair and graceful features, dressed in a practical set of hiking shorts, tall boots, a sleeveless top and an unzipped jacket over it, stood before a circle she had just drawn on the circle of a small cabin by a river. It was an abandoned place she had found during her travels, and after careful consideration she had marked it as the closest safe summon spot to the exact site of the legendary deed that had brought her there.

She had placed a small chunk of stone she had taken from the famous tomb she had broken into last night at the middle of the circle and then pulled back, spitting on the relic before relaxing as she had been instructed to do. She slammed her hands before herself and began chanting, in a loud and commanding tone, each word firmly remarked and clearly pronounced in flawless Aramaic.

 _"For the elements, Silver and Iron. For the foundation, stone and the Archduke of Contracts. For the ancestor, the great master, Schweinorg."_

The lines of the circle began glowing, much like they did for a Pactio incantation, and the young woman allowed herself a harsh smile.

 _"Close the gates of the cardinal directions,"_ she commanded. _"Come forth from the Crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom."_

The whole circle glowed now in aquamarine hues, accentuated by the lingering darkness of the fading night. She kept her breathing stable and her voice even, never faltering, never rising any further.

 _"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. Repeat now, repeat five times. But when each is filled, destroy it. Set."_

The clear light changed to a fiery red, and the young woman was reminded of her, of her character and moods. Fitting, really, of sorts. The chant continued, as birds flapped nervously around the decrepit building, flying in agitated circles and occassionally clashing against the windows.

 _"Heed my words. My word creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. You, heeding the call of the Holy Grail and obeying my will and reason, answer me."_

A soft current of air started rising from the circle, but the summoner kept her blood cool and her drive firm. She closed her eyes only to facilitate her concentration, blocking all visual distractions from the goal etched into her mind.

 _"I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall defeat all evil in the world. You, seven Heavens, clad in the three great words of power, come forth from the circle of binding!"_ she shouted, opening her large dark brown eyes again. _**"Guardian of the Scales!"**_

And the whole cabin exploded in a huge ball of fire.

Several minutes passed in the loneliness of the fields, far away from the nearest village, as the smoke rose in willowy puffs from the burning wreckage of old wood and charred grass around what once had been someone's home. Finally, the young woman's figure rose from under the flaming rubble, all clothes burnt off her body, but herself completely unharmed, as was the large mallet she had been keeping on her back, secured to her body by a long strap. She had not even stood all the way back up when she heard the words of someone standing on the rubble over her, and she knew she had, against most expectations, succeeded.

"Heaven still hasn't forgiven you, sinner."

"Then," she smiled faintly, looking up to meet the judgemental gaze of the woman who had just appeared before her, "why has He sent you to me?"

This woman with long and dark hair was around her summoner's height, but was somewhat more curvaceous in body shape, which was accentuated by the nature of the outfit she wearing, a mostly white ensemble with red highligts around the edges. It was rather scandalous for a holy woman, but there was no mistaking the person wearing it or her stern expression, even if the summoner could not remember her ever wearing anything that exposed so much of her legs, clad in tall and tight light blue stockings, or that sported such a pronounced cross shaped cleavage window, plunging all the way down to her navel. In a hand she held a lenghty cross shaped staff, taller than herself.

"I have been sent," this other woman told her strictly, "to guarantee an equilibrium, not to carry on your will, Betrayer. I am Ruler, Servant of the Balance. You called for the Guardian of the Scales, and that is exactly what you got."

The stripped woman frowned, holding a fist up, showing the red marks on its back, taking the shape of four sets of feathered wings, the two above smaller than those below. "I was sent this by His will so I finally could redeem myself, Martha. By opposing me, you are opposing Him as well."

"You still know nothing about His will, Iscariot," sadly said the Ruler, crouching down to gently pick a dead bird from the wreckage, holding it in the palm of her hand. "Even after centuries, you keep being reckless, and others keep on paying the price. You... You even spat on my relic! What in the world is wrong with you, why did you have to spit on it?!" she cried, completely breaking her former air of solemnity.

"Give me a break, I couldn't bleed on it! I'm cursed!" she plunged a fist into the ruins, pulled out a now twisted and burnt large knife she had been keeping in her now destroyed clothes, and angrily stabbing herself in the throat time and time again, the wound ceasing to exist altogether just as soon as she took the blade out, not even bleeding at all. "See this?! It's been like this for nearly two thousand years now! Haven't I suffered enough?! How long must I be denied my resting place?! if these marks aren't here to grant me that finality, then what's their purpose, Martha?!"

"You will call me Ruler, thank you very much!" Ruler said, stepping off the smoking rubble with a raised nose and past the other female, crouching down on the dirt to dig a small grave for the bird and bury it there, kindly patting the compressed covering soil on it. She brought her hands together and recitated tenderly, kneeling in place, _"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they...?"_

Iscariot sighed. "Yes, I am! Well, maybe I'm not, but I'm still worth His pity as well, am I not?! Martha, all I want is to use that Holy Grail to give me a single wish, not to harm anyone, not to-"

"Do not ever call it that again," coldly said Ruler, standing back up and primly dusting herself off, without deigning her with a glance back. "There is only one sacred cup, and no others ever forged by man deserve that name. I will be overseeing the ritual built around that... _thing_ since it is His will for me to do so, but I won't fool myself over its sanctity. Neither should you, Iscariot."

"Actually," the naked woman said, "my name is Karin, remember?"

Ruler nodded. "Isht Karin Orte, how could I forget? We once were friends, after all. But now you should endure the name given to you by infamy."

"It's only a deformation of my proper name, it doesn't have anything to do with my punishment..." Karin muttered bitterly.

Ignoring this, Ruler looked towards the East. "The call of that blasphemous artifact hails from that direction. We are in Tarascon, aren't we?"

"Yes. Yes, we are," Karin said. "Listen, it's-"

"It has changed a lot since I last was here," Ruler observed thoughtfully. "Do you know how far this false grail might be, exactly?"

"Shouldn't you know that better than- Oh, never mind! It's in Japan, two continents and a sea away. That is what I was about to tell-"

"Well, in that case, we should start heading there immediately!" Ruler said, lively stepping ahead towards the rising sun. "By the way, I was under the impression the attire customs in this age were more relaxed, but not so much you could freely walk around in the nude, for shame..."

 _"Oh, like you are dressed in a way He'd approve of either!"_

* * *

Fifteen years ago, Japan had been wrecked by a global disaster.

The country had bounced back from that remarkably well and fast, moreso than most other nations, and yet, the Southwest of the country had suffered another blow five years later, when the city of Fuyuki was destroyed by rampaging fires officially attributed to geological anomalies. However, that smaller, more localized tragedy had been nearly forgotten ten years after the fact. Fuyuki was declared a hazardous restricted zone cordoned by the Japanese Defense Forces, and its residents had been relocated to Neo-Tokyo or the bustling urban center built around the four largest and most prestigious schools in Japan, Academy City.

Ohtori was one of these rival schools competing with each other for dominance, and its Student Council wielded a remarkable amount of power. The residential chambers of Vice President Saionji Kyouichi were actually spacious enough to contend with Celenike's, and even had a library the more athletically inclined owner seldom used. It was there that, a certain cold night the young man was spending outside, a young lady of great beauty, with deeply bronzed skin and short, wavy dark purple hair, had finished preparations for a ritual, just having drawn a circle remarkably similar to that of Karin on the floor, its wine red carpet set aside.

A tiny, comical looking creature that looked like a mixture of squirrel monkey and mouse sat on said rolled up carpet, holding a half eaten banana in its fore paws and chewing from it as it observed the procceedings its master was putting into motion. Its long thin tail idly moved from one side to another as the young woman adjusted the large round glasses on her face and stood in place, breathing deeply. The Witch was about to cast her greatest trick. All for her Knight's sake.

 _"Let silver and steel be the essence,"_ she chanted on quietly, cutting herself in an arm with a fine kitchen knife of pearly handle and exquisite craftship. _"Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation."_

The circle flared to life even faster than it had for Karin, this time glowing in bright red from the beginning. The small animal yelped shrilly and dropped onto its back on the floor, startled and kicking up as it tried to regain its former position, to no avail for the next few moments.

 _"Let red be the color I pay tribute to. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close."_

The magic rich lands of Ohtori lent their mana to their mistress' plead, and the light rose in several pillars from her design, bathing the whole room, just as she had calculated. Her heart never skipped a beat. This was only the prologue of her story. The beginning of their tale. And she was doing nothing but summoning a tool.

 _"Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate. Let it be filled. Again. Again. Again. Again."_

The circle was already exploding towards its outside, blowing itself up and sending the poor diminutive creature flying against a wall, by the time she spoke the final words, her tone unchanged from before. She did not even flinch or blink as smoke billowed and puffed up, and a human silhouette rose from it, barely visible, concealed by it beyond its tall and dominating general size.

 _"Let it be filled fivefold for every turn, simply breaking asunder with every filling,"_ she finished, and as if on command, the smoke blew itself up sideways, dissipating into nothingness as she coolly regarded her summon, only to charmingly smile at him one moment later.

The man who had just appeared in her room was much taller and bigger than her, bigger and taller than her brother, and shared with them a similar, perhaps slightly lighter, skin tone, but his eyes were much different, sporting a golden shade; and his hair was cropped short and white. Black, fitting body armor covered him from his legs to the neck, with silver accents around the ribcage and broad chest. He also wore an open red coat over it, adding to his modern appearance, more akin to that of a television or action movie hero than someone drawn from the mists of the past.

This man seemed silently, mildly surprised to see her standing before him at first, as if he had been actually expecting for someone else. Then his gaze shifted to a suspicious squint as he regarded the summoner's features, and the single red dot at the middle of her forehead. "Are we in Atlas?" he asked, his voice deep and manly, lacking any particular tones yet, as if he was just testing what attitude assuming around this person who had called him.

"I've never been there, I'm afraid." She deeply bowed to him, the little monkey-mouse with huge round ears fearfully shivering and hugging her left ankle, hiding behind it. "My name's Himemiya Anthy, Ohtori's Bride of the Rose. And you would be...?"

"Archer," he said, in a tone that made clear the answer had barely satisfied him. "Servant Archer," he added or ammended a moment later, like an afterthought.

She nodded. "Thank you so very much, that suits my purposes just fine. The contract between us, then, is complete," she said, delicately holding a hand up while the red markings on it shifted briefly. "Please do take good care of me, Knight."

Archer took on these words with careful thoughtfulness, before looking down at the trembling creature cowering behind Anthy, the likes of which he'd never seen before. "This is Chu-Chu!" Anthy smiled, crouching down to pick it up in her hands, holding it right before the man's face. "Kiss Sir Archer and make him feel welcome, won't you, Chu-Chu?"

 _"Chuuuu!"_ the pet protested, pulling back frantically, and Archer, despite himself, gave a small step back as well.

"Oh, I see, you aren't ready yet," Anthy observed somewhat sadly, as if truly disappointed, before regaining that strange, gorgeous but unnerving smile of hers. All in all, she gave the impression of being someone lovely yet repulsive at the same time. The former was easy to explain, because so far she had acted charming and pleasant the whole time, despite her quirky strangeness, and there was no denying her beauty. The latter was unexplainable, though; it was just a gut feeling rising from somewhere in Archer, an instinct warning him against this wonderful looking presence, which in her own way, seemed as subtly larger than life as any Heroic Spirit he had ever met before.

He was soon distracted from these contemplations, however, as the library's doors were flung open, and from the doorstep came a loud gasp of outrage and shock. Archer instantly fell into a fighting position, materializing a large, slightly curved blade in each hand. Chu-Chu panicked again, rushing across Anthy's arm and shoulder and clinging onto her neck for his life. Anthy herself, however, only turned around graciously, her long red dress rustling as she faced the handsome, green haired young man who glared murderously at her and the Archer.

"Welcome home, Saionji-sempai," she warmly said. "This is Archer-sama. He would like to duel you for my hand as the Rose Bride."

* * *

The skies all over the planet had been blood red for a long time after the Great Disaster. All day and night long, everywhere, and it had been only ten years ago that, for some reason, the familiar blues from past times had returned to clear days all across the globe, much to mankind's relief and solace. Few thought of relating this to the Great Fuyuki Fire, a relatively small event restricted to a single city, even if it also had made headlines all through the world. Even the Church and the Magic Associations still debated on whether the two events were related at all or their temporal proximity had been nothing but a coincidence. The answers tended to depend on whether those you asked truly believed on the Heaven's Feel ritual or just thought of it as a quaint, pointless struggle between overly hyped familiars.

Kotomine Kirei placed himself firmly on the first of such camps of thought.

Moving through the no man's land of what once had been a thriving city, with a Black Key in each hand, the tall, imposing man with dead eyes marched under a sky that, there and only there, remained stubbornly red seven days a week, twelve months a year. That was not something the mundane world was aware of- the whole city grounds were zealously barred from outside access, and even the few report crews allowed to make television specials and gather material for books on the subject had to undergo authorization from the magi and the Church, only to divulge doctored stories for the masses afterwards. But within the limits guarded by the Defense Forcers, barriers only Kirei and handful of others had authorization to breach regularly, time seemed to have stopped, frozen in an endless dark age of misery and decay, shrouded by bleeding skies presiding over toppled towers and shattered streets.

The dark haired man in the black habits of a priest marched slow but surely, never missing a step. By now he did not need a map to navigate through these avenues and boulevards he was charged with patrolling twice a year, and now, with the news of Command Seals manifesting once again around Earth, he had been comissioned once again to perform a full checkup on the site of the Old Wars. The last stop in his itinerary was his old church, where he had served under his father, and where he had met his true fate and calling. Kirei was not a man who felt true joy at any memories of the past, and only found a moderate amount of inner warmth from the remembrances of those lives he had destroyed. But even so, he could not deny experiencing a vague fondness as he moved in through the frontal entrance, facing the usual marauders roaming the main chapel, no doubt trying to break in underneath.

Four reanimated skeletons, once inhabitants of the dead city, realized his arrival and charged at him, three of them holding sticks and stones. Kirei would not even blink as she flash stepped forward, swinging the Black Keys expertly. Magi would often scoff and dismiss at these large, sharp weapons, calling them impractical and bothersome, but Kirei was rather partial to them, finding them his first and foremost weapon of choice. As he easily ducked under the thrown stones and slashed at the undead lower sections, severing their spindly legs, he did not feel the heat and rush of battle- only _one_ man ever had him feel that in his whole life- but he still felt himself on comfortable enough grounds. Perhaps, to some degree, these base beings were left with a measure of awareness that made what was going to come next painful and distressing. Or perhaps they would take it for a release and blessing. Kotomine chose to think of the former, as usual, while grabbing the disabled skeletons by their skulls, whispering an exorcism, and pulverizing them between his fingers.

After he was done, the man took a moment to whisper a prayer before the main altar, out of a combination of force of habit and sheer sense of duty. Then he moved towards the back of the crumbling building, easily adjusting to the ever present darkness, and noticing the extra shattered skeletons and dead unnatural beasts all over the floor since his last visit. That had to mean his ally had been there recently, since the dead abominations were still fresh. Or perhaps he still was there, as Kotomine confirmed while standing by the now open door leading to the basement, seeing the seals and wards tampered with, as was the King's custom whenever he wished trampling through any security measures.

"Gilgamesh," he calmly called out, down the stairs.

"I'm right here, priest," came a voice that was as rich and deep as his own, in its own way. Someone stood down there, in the pitch blackness, but the ornate golden armor he was wearing seemed to glint with an intensity of its own, lending some visibility to his grim surroundings. Kirei walked down the stairs slowly, until he stopped by the even taller man with spiky blond hair, arms folded as he looked over the dozens and dozens of twitching, weakly stirring husks stretching before them, all the way to the ends of the basement. Misshapen, tortured things that had once been human, but barely looked any less ruined than the skeletons above now. They were gray as ashes and would continuously try to scream; but their throats were long useless to produce anything but the occasional hoarse moan.

"Why the armored suit?" respectfully asked the priest.

The man with the serpentine red eyes smirked. "They are my most loyal and sacrificed subjects. They deserve me in my best garments. Although I have been somewhat disappointed on them lately. Two more have died since my last visit."

"Have they?" Kirei asked with a pensive hum. "Well, it has been a decade now. There is a limit to how much mana they could provide, after all. And you haven't been eaxctly idle of late, from what I've gathered."

Gilgamesh, greatest King of Uruk, First and Foremost of Heroes, sighed. "True. Recently I have walked among those mongrels more than they deserved, but I wanted to give them a last chance to prove themselves. All for naught, Kirei. Those few with the capacity, like the man from the stars, don't wish to rule, and those who do are nothing but headstrong fools and knaves. I had placed hopes, I must admit, on this rebirth of heroes, but they all have disappointed me so far. Except perhaps the young lady commanding the squirrels."

Kirei nodded slowly. "Yes, I thought you would say so."

"Don't presume of being able to second guess me, fool."

"My apologies. Regardless, if you are here, you must have heard the news about the Grail's unexpected rebirth."

"That, I have," Gilgamesh confirmed with an austere nod. "There may be some use for that wretched treasure yet."

"Your insight remains sharp as ever," Kirei complimented him dryly. "With no Saber or Emiya Kiritsugu now, it would be extremely easy for you to-"

The golden man chuckled, magnificent even when submerged into absolute darkness. "I have no interest on contests between my lessers. I will observe this so-called war, but only in the miraculous event some worthy adversary happens to rise from the rabble. Regardless, the result will be the same.I will seize my lost treasure and redeem it by finally putting it to a good use. You, of course, will also have your carnage in the proccess, Kirei. So rejoice, priest. Before your death, you sadism will serve a noble cause, at the very least."

"I would not call it sadism, if I may say so," Kotomine respectfully began disagreeing, "It's just that-" But before Gilgamesh could protest to being contradicted, a beep came from Kirei's priestly robes. "Oh, please excuse me for a moment, will you. Hello?" he said, pulling a small cellphone out and holding it against a side of his face. "Ah, it's you. Yes. I see. No, so far, everything has been normal. Oh. I understand..."

Gilgamesh observed, arms still folded, in mild curiosity until Kirei pocketed the phone back in. "Someone else has just manifested. This time, it is one of us."

The King smiled in a twisted way. "So much for the vaunted impartiality of the house of your Lord."

"I was an active player under my father's supervision, this time will be no different at all," Kirei flatly answered. "It doesn't matter. We will still destroy that person if she gets in the way of our plans, one way or another."

"I was unaware you had any children," the sovereign said, finally letting a fist rest on a hip, and having understood the true meaning of his longtime acquaitance's words. "I imagine she never received any love from you."

"I never had any to give anyone," Kirei said as honestly as he ever could.

At moments like these Gilgamesh did not know whether feeling more repulsed by this priest than by anyone else he had ever met, or to be more amused than he'd ever been at anyone.

So naturally, he just did both things and began laughing at this hollow man who did not mind his mockery, before the broken gazes of the church's orphans.

* * *

After the Great Disaster, the United Nations had divided the Earth on Eleven different Areas, for a better organization of the reconstruction and distribution of the resources. Area One was made of Europe, West of the Carpathians. Area Two was comprised of North America, from Mexico to Alaska. Area Three was how South and Central America had been labeled. Area Four was the Antarctica, even though not much remained of the frozen continent after the cataclysm, and all access to it had been blocked by the world's most powerful governments. Area Five included the African continent. Area Six was the Middle East. Area Seven was the denomination for Australia, New Zealand and the Indian Ocean. Area Eight was made solely of the Russian Union. Area Nine was the Northern Polar Cap, which fell under the same security hazards as Antarctica. Area Ten was the Southern Asia and China, and finally, Area Eleven included Korea, Japan and the various minor island nations that hadn't been swallowed by the Pacific Ocean.

Being chosen as the default capital of Area One during the reorganization period had given London a sense of feverish pride that still lasted to this day, and since the rebuilding started Britannia- much like Germany, the country had been renamed after the Second Great War, even if because of different reasons- in general had grown active in its expansionist impulses in a way not seen since its old colonial years. For a very young girl of Russian origins growing in the countryside, it had been difficult, at times, to cope with the locals' attitude, but the little enterpreuner who was now about to close shop for the evening always had the support of a kindhearted neighbor and her younger brother, even after she was left orphaned by what the Imperial Government officially labeled a secesionist terrorist raid on her village. Nekane Springfield took care of the little girl after that, and soon after managed sending her to the same prestigious school as her own brother. Recently, they both had graduated with honors, and the boy had been sent to pursue his own destiny overseas.

She, on the other hand, had been assigned to what technically amounted as a surveillance job among the mundanes, but she did not really mind. She was staying with a very respected tutor, she had gained her own familiar, and the hours and pay were good. She doubted Negi was doing any better for himself in the Area Eleven, which meant he'd probably be returning soon, and then they could- they could-

Her red-faced, hot-cheeked daydreams- okay, early evening waking dreams- on the subject were interrupted, this time, by a man entering her business before she could angrily deny her own feelings to herself yet again, and then move on to actually change the sign on the door from 'Close' to 'Open'. This man blinked at her as soon as he'd stepped in, looking down at the tiny redhead with long twintails and pinkish cheeks. "Oh, um, good evening," he said, with a polite, educated voice that, judging from his accent, sounded like that of someone who either was a foreigner or had just spent a long time abroad. "Excuse me, please, is your mother or father here, or-"

She sighed, shook her head, and gave the man a courteous bow. "No, Sir, _**I**_ am the fortuneteller. Good evening, Anya Cocolova at your service."

"Oh," the man said quietly, adjusting the glasses he wore on his light gray, distant to the point of lifelessness eyes. He was fairly handsome, Anya guessed, if you were into older men, which she was not. Reasonably tall and on the thin side but without being scrawny or weak looking, impeccably suited in a dark blue tie, a long gray coat buttoned all the way up, and black pants and shoes. His hair was also short and well combed, and he gave the impression of being a discreet and trustworthy gentleman. "But you are so... young."

"I'm a certified practicioner, Mister," the girl in the black dress said with great dignity, moving back behind her desk, and gesturing for him to close the door after himself, which he did after a moment of doubt. A small pudgy dog with a very short tail and black ears stirred and woke up when she moved past him, lightly pushing him aside with the tip of a foot while sitting down. "Don't be a bother now, Courage, we have a customer." She gestured again at the man, and he understood after another moment of pause, sitting down on a chair set facing the desk. The little girl smiled, putting her hands together. "You are a doctor, single, and you are troubled by recent developments in your life."

He nodded. "Correct on all accounts. My name is Twice Harold Pieceman, surgeon, and to be honest, I had never believed in magic..."

Even now, he was rationalizing she had guessed his line of work from his hands, his marital state because of his nervousness around a girl, and his current strife because, well who else would be loking for fortune telling advice late at night but a troubled man? Or perhaps she had seen his picture in a newspaper or magazine and remembered him. But, did children even read newspapers anymore?

Anya hummed while the small dog sat on the floor by her side, wagging his tail at Twice. She flipped a set of tarot cards out of her long sleeves and began shuffling them around. "Belief is a state of perpetual flow, it can be altered according to our perceptions and experiences, Doctor. If you will just open your mind enough as to-"

"Miss," he said, holding an outstretched hand before her face, and showing her its back, which sported a wide marking resembling the drawing in red of a series of self contained circles being penetrated from underneath by a sharp ended figure vaguely similar to a dagger, "all I would like to know is whether you have an answer for what this might be or not."

Anya's eyes, already large and round, widened instantly, and Pieceman knew he had found his answers. Now if she only would give them out. He spoke to her frankly and seriously, while the dog looked back and forth between them, seemingly puzzled. "I woke up with this six days ago, and none of my colleagues- all qualified professionals with excellent credentials- could give me a clear answer on what is this supposed to be. Neither could they take it off, or make it subside in any way or degree. Besides that, I have been these... strange, allegoric dreams ever since. Dreams of ancient Eastern imagery, what would you happen to know about that?"

"I... I am a Western practicioner, Sir..." she uneasily replied, paling a little. "However... if you would just give me your number and mail address, I... I might be able to have an answer ready for you tomorrow night, after consulting some colleagues of my own! You, you don't have to pay anything just yet, be assured..."

Minutes after, as soon as the man had left the small stand with a promise of returning next evening, she raced for an old, wine red stand phone at the backstore, almost triping on the yiping book on her way there. "Sir!" she gasped right after lifting the speaker up, dialing a number, and hearing a click at the other end of the line. "It's me, Anya! This is serious, Sir, you've got to hear me out...!"

* * *

And so we are back at Japan.

"Aaaaahhh!" the woman with short, light brown hair said, happily putting her now empty bowl down on the table, enthusiastically enough it counted as a slam, in the opinion of the siblings having breakfast with her. "As ever, Shirou-kun's meals are the best! Not to offend, Miyu-chan, you're better than he was at your age, you'll surpass him soon..."

"Fuji-nee, please," groaned the young, red haired man sitting at the table with her and the little girl, wearing a high school boy's uniform. It was a pleasant, clear morning; the birds happily chirped outside under a radiant sun and a blue sky with little to nothing in the way of clouds.

"Oniichan will keep improving as I do, but that's okay," quietly noted the youngest inhabitant of the residence, a short girl round eleven years old, with large, adorable golden eyes and black hair. She politely finished her meal and primly wiped the corners of her small pink lips with a napkin. "It's your turn to wash the dishes today, Oneesama..."

"Or... is it?!" dramatically questioned the young woman, barely less than a decade older than the boy, whipping her arm around so she was staring directly at her wristwatch. "I'm late for my sacred duty of teaching, so sadly, I must leave this lesser task for the younger generations, so you can be ready for greater-"

"One!" the young man started, gathering the plates and bowls together before her, "We go to school together, at the same time! Two! We wouldn't be this late if you hadn't woken up so late! Three! You always have said we must-"

The woman in the casual suit pouted like a child who had just been scolded. "You didn't try hard enough, Shirou!"

"What, to wake you up?" the boy asked. "I tried everything but throwing a bucket of water on you!"

"Well, give me a break, I've been working too hard lately!" she protested, while the little girl kept on loking back and forth between them, only moving her eyes.

"You came past nine o'clock, stinking of sake and pulled along by Minamoto-sensei and Arai-sensei!" he argued back.

"Shizuna barely drank and Chie could outdrink Baccus!" Fujimura Taiga, the Tiger of Mahora Academy, all but wailed. "I only ask to have a few free nights to enjoy myself every now and then, is that too much to ask for the woman who has raised you two?!" She turned her tearful eyes towards the now empty seat at her right. "Don't you agree with me, Miy- Eh?!"

"I'm almost done already," Emiya Miyu quietly said from the kitchen, washing the dishes herself, with the sleeves of her elementary uniform rolled up. Shirou folded his arms and muttered under his breath. "Please be patient, I won't take long..."

"See, Shirou? See!?" Taiga quickly twisted back to all but lean on him, moving her head energetically and making him groan and push her back. "Miyu-chan does understand me, unlike you! She's helpful and nice even if her cooking's not that good, what a darling you are, Miyu-chan...!"

"My cooking is good, I think..." Miyu softly pointed out, wiping the last bowl- one with a cute cartoon tiger painted on it- with a small vein bulging on her milky forehead.

Such was everyday life for the Emiya Family, Tutor Taiga and the siblings, Shirou-kun and Miyu-chan. After a happy breakfast together, they would leave the large, palatial home of the sadly late Emiya Kiritsugu and wait for the neighbor to pull his car out of the garage, then to stop before their sidewalk, at which point Taiga would be, invariably, the first one to leap into the back seats, sharing a high five with the grinning girl sitting by the driver, a chocolate-haired teenager a couple years younger than Shirou, and a solid three older than Miyu.

"Yo, Fujimura-sensei!" the girl greeted as they settled into the back of the sedan and Shirou closed the door after the three, sharing a wave and smile with the bespectacled, black haired man at the wheel. "Miyu-chan, Sempai! How's it shakin'?"

"Good morning, Yuuna-sempai, Akashi-sensei," Miyu bowed her head once for each. "Thank you once again for the ride..."

"It's never been a bother, Miyu-chan," said Professor Akashi, Taiga's colleague, as the car began its way down the streets of the Mahora Academy residential area, mostly intended to house staffers of the school and their families. He drove towards the campus proper, a wide and majestic complex sprawling in the distance, with an impossibly huge tree presiding over it. The first time Shirou had seen that tree, when his father first brought him and his baby sister to Mahora, he thought it was the most impressive and breath taking thing he had ever seen. Nowadays, after years of seeing it daily, it barely registered anymore. "Has your class decided on a trip destination already? Yuuna's will go to Kyoto!"

Akashi Yuuna, the man's daughter, shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Yeah, well, I'm not sure I like the idea too much myself, but Negi-sensei suggested it, and then Konoka latched onto it, so _of course_ everyone went crazy for it. Even Asuna, weirdly enough."

"That girl really needs to get over Takamichi already, but I'm not sure falling for a little boy will be an improvement at all..." Taiga sagely observed.

"Fuji-nee!" Shirou said.

"What?! Wataru-kun agrees with me, don't you, Wataru-kun? I kinda like Negi-kun myself, he's a nice boy and someday he'll be a dearie, but those girls really need to rethink their admiration for him..."

The professor chuckled uneasily while his daughter rolled her eyes, playing with the edge of her junior high uniform's checkered skirt. "They're just kids playing around, Taiga-san, we don't have to take what they do so seriously..."

Shirou blinked them, as the car turned a corner and he saw someone coming out of a large house, much bigger than even Kiritsugu's, a splendid old manor. He was too entranced by the lovely sight of this black haired girl, locking her front door and with her back turned to them, to notice a few windows of the upper floor of the manor had been blown up and shattered, something he would have recognized had not come to pass before last night, as they passed the house in their way back from school as well. That was, other than whenever he was not being roped into helping others with their repairs. Whatever the case, Shirou allowed himself a faint smile as they left this corner behind, his golden eyes trying to linger on the girl with twin tails as much as they could, until he was pulled from his distraction by Yuuna's cagey chuckle.

Blushing slightly, Shirou settled himself into a straight position on his seat, eyes now nailed ahead. Too late too, as not only Yuuna was glancing back at him and breaking into giggling, but Taiga was also grinning like a deranged Joker at him, and Miyu suddenly sported a neutral expression and a complete refusal to look at him. "W-What?" he ended up snorting after a moment of that.

"Oh, Sempai!" Yuuna teased him. "Why so embarrassed? There's nothing wrong about liking Tohsaka-sempai...!"

"I'd rather it be Sakura," Taiga said with a cynical smile and shrug of shoulders, "but anything that makes Shirou-kun will be fine with me as well..."

"Okay, cut it out, you two!" he said. "You'll make Miyu-chan think I'm some kind of Casanova!"

"... I'd never think anything like that..." Miyu said, in a tone that was not very convincing, added to her persisting refusal to deign him with a look yet.

Okay, he admitted to himself, trying his best to ignore Taiga and Yuuna's shared guffaws, and even the way Professor Akashi seemed to be stifling a chuckle of his own. So maybe he liked Tohsaka Rin after all. So what? He was entitled to that much after all, wasn't he? It wasn't like it ever was going to happen, so what difference did it make? Did they have to indirectly rub that fact on his face like this? He had better things to think of anyway. Things like-

He took a hand to the back of his other hand and scratched, annoyed by a sudden rash. Dammit, this day was turning out just sterling so far. Simply dandy, how could it ever top itself?

Walking out of another, old and stately house, following a fuming young man with blue hair, a purple haired beauty watched the car go by with large, soulfully sad eyes before snapping in attention to the sound of the boy's curtly annoyed voice. "C'mon, Sakura. Stop daydreaming!"

"Y-Yes, Onii-sama," Matou Sakura said, and quickly followed him down the sidewalk.

* * *

A whole day passed, a day like any other.

Matou Sakura had slipped under the collective radar yet again, remaining silent all through Itoshiki-sensei's rambling speeches that passed for Social Studies classes, all the while idly wondering how it would have been, being handled over to the Itoshikis instead. As she understood, they also had a gifted lineage, which certainly would explain how the man had survived all of his public brushes with death. Despite his eccentricities, however, he had always been nice enough to her whenever she asked him on any subject, and for someone whose voice sounded so much like Onii-sama's, that was truly remarkable.

Lunch was unremarkable as well, as she sat by herself under a small tree, slowly feeding on the bento she had prepared herself. It was not that she was not hungry- the things squirming inside were always hungry for food in addition to their other, more tormenting needs- but that she was given limited resources for each day, and she had learned through trial and error eating in a measured fashion placated their gluttony more than eating fast and eagerly. Around her, the day was bright and happy, and seeing so many others partaking together so contentedly made her feel oddly concerned about not being able to experience such things herself.

That was strange, as she normally did not concern herself about those things. The Archery Club tended to be enough for all of her limited social needs, and even so, after classes, while practicing at the shooting range, she still couldn't feel any solace under her clubmates' gaze. Five times she had taken aim and shot already, and three of them she had failed. This sixth shot missed the mark as well, and Sakura breathed out her frustation while an older girl with short hazel hair and eyes approached her, gesturing at her to stop. "Sakura," she said, "I think that'll be enough for now, thank you. I knew you shouldn't have tried with an injured hand like that, don't pressure yourself."

"I'm fine, Mitsuzuri-sempai," Sakura said, taking a strange look at her bandaged left hand. "It's no big deal. As a matter of fact, Grandfather said I didn't even need, I just insisted on putting it on just in case."

"Well, why don't you go and have it checked just in case?" Mitsuzuri Ayako insisted. "Don't worry about running into Mikado-sensei, at this time it's Youko-sensei's turn..."

"N-No!" Sakura said, pulling back... and then blushed at the confused reactions of Ayako and the rest of the girls. "I, I mean... I said I'm okay, right? I know my own body better than anyone, you... you really don't have to worry..."

No. No, they didn't. This fell all squarely on herself. At the very least it would be over soon enough, as she tried to tell herself in the bus back home, and then walking the rest of the way to Grandfather's home. This time, she stopped by the old and rusty steel gates, with their black bars topped by sharp ends, and shuddered. And hesitated. She was so numb by now she habitually would just walk in trying not to think of anything, but tonight would be a special occasion, and that changed everything. However, at the same time, it changed nothing. She still would have to walk into the belly of the beast, and so she did.

Shinji had arrived first for once, as his shoes by the door proved, and furher confirmation came when he walked over to greet her, with a cold sneer etched on his face. "Sure took you long enough," he said.

"I'm sorry," she said, lowering her head. "I have no excuses."

Matou Shinji groaned, throwing his hands up and walking towards the stairs upwards. "What-ever. Grandfather waits for us in the attic. Let's just get this over and done at once."

"Aren't we going to do it in the basement?" Sakura blinked, following the thin boy with curly hair up the stairs. "Why?"

"He says the last Spirit he summoned down there didn't take it well. Can't imagine why, riiiight?" Shinji informed, opening the trap door into the attic. "Hey, Grandfather, we can begin already!"

The attic was a choice Sakura was truly thankful for. Other than the kitchen and the living room, was one of the most tolerable parts of the house for her. It was filled with lots of boxes of books, relics and oddities from long ago, perhaps from when Grandfather had been a better man, as some of them even spoke of rational pursuits and relatively sane life choices. Now most of those boxes had been pulled aside, clearing a large spot at the middle of the attic, right under a skylight. Grandfather stood there, supported on his wooden cane, next to a runic circle he had drawn on the floor. Strangely, he smiled in a way that, while still twisted and malicious, seemed somewhat more relaxed and less vitriolic than his norm. That almost gave the tiny, shriveled and completely bald husk of a man in black and gray robes a semi-human appearance, marred mostly by the ambitious glint in those eerie black eyes and their reddish irises.

"Welcome home, Sakura," Matou Zouken said, in a tone that, much like his smile, was unpleasant but not quite as much as he would always be in private. "Come here, don't be afraid. Your ordeals are almost over, child. You have done much for this family, more than others I could mention, but it is nerly time for you to rest. After you do this," he handed her over a piece of a broken mirror, which she accepted carefully, yet she couldn't help cutting herself in the hand she had just freed before walking in. "Ow! I- I'm sorry, Grandfather! I didn't mean-!"

Against her expectations and Shinji's, Zouken only let out a pleased cackle, throwing the bulbous head back. "Ah ha ha! Don't apologize, Sakura! This is good. Blood," he said, pointing at the red droplets she had let fall on the circle, which even now glowed faintly, much to her and Shinji's awe, "is a key component for rituals such as this. Get into position now, as I instructed. And read from this," he instructed, less amused now, handing her an open musky tome of forbidden lore, and poking a finger like a pale twig on a specific line. "The underlined passage, you couldn't ask for an easier task to carry out. You just stay behind and silent, boy. Not a single word until the Servant manifest themselves, no matter what."

Shinji nodded nervously, with wide open eyes. He opened his mouth to answer, but closed it back just as soon, making a shaky motion of zipping his lips up. Zouken half-approved this with a dismissive snort and then forcefully gestured at Sakura to start.

She swallowed as much as she could on a dry throat and read aloud, _"Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg."_

And then a piercing chill ran down her spine, as she could swear she could hear the circle talking back to her, in her own voice, _"The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate."_

Sakura paused, staring at Zouken in utter bewilderment, but the old man urged her to go on with an angry snarl. Apparently he had heard her talking the whole chant so far herself... or had she indeed, and had she just imagined that other voice, identical to hers? Was she losing her mind after all?

Sakura swallowed again and said, _"Sh-Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. R-Repeat every five times. Simply, shatter once filled. I, I announce-!"_

The other Sakura voice spoke again, firm and clearly, everything her own voice was not. _"Your self is under me, my fate, my doom, is in your sword. In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer!"_

And Sakura's own voice rose in turn, to match this one, whoever it belonged to. For some reason, she felt more of a drive than she had felt in a long, long time, making Shinji pause and take notice, backing away for the trapdoor until stopping just a step shy of reaching it. _"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead!"_

The other Sakura voiced finished the chant for her, in a release that was as jubilous as mischievously threatening in tone. The voice of a trickster goddess, a charming murderess, a playful fool who would kiss and stab you at once. Sakura found herself, bafflingly, _liking_ that voice. A fair lot. _"You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!"_

And then the three Matous were bowled over and back, rolling across the floor, crashing against a wall with a high pitched shriek in Shinji's case. A single huge pillar of energy and light blew from the circle and flew upwards, and the skylight was shattered, spraying shards of glass everywhere...

But the shards, every and each last one, were first frozen in midair and then lowered slow and safely, at the feet of the three women who had just appeared on the circle. Well, more like feet and, in the case of one of them, sharp metal legs, pointy stilts attached to a petite girl who... looked like a younger, much flatter Sakura.

As a matter of fact, all three of them looked like Sakura. Two less so, this one who was petite and scowling and had her legs replaced by prosthetics, and a second one who looked down shyly, armed with gigantic metallic golden arms finished in humongous claws, and sporting the largest set of breasts Sakura had seen in her life. The one who stood at the lead of the trio, however, was fairly normal looking, pretty much identical to Sakura in everything but her much longer hair, reaching past down her waist, and her coquettish, kittenish even, smirk as she leaned towards the young summoner, winking an eye and jarring her arms on her own hips. "Hey there, good looking!" she happily greeted. "I'm Servant Moon Cancer. I ask of you, are you our lucky Master?"

* * *

 **End of Chapter Zero.**


	2. Next of Kin

"I am called Rider," said the woman standing from the convocation circle Sessyion Kiara had drawn with all of her love, in one of the cult's store houses in the Academy City. She smiled haughtily, tossing light pink hair aside over a shoulder, in a flipping, self confident fashion that made Kiara's heart swoon. Behind her, Kaori only could gasp in amazement at this miracle, her faith renewed to incredible levels. The woman looked like a goddess brought down and given life, with a perfect body without any excesses, fit and yet full of grace, and a lovable face anyone would fall for. A silver crown on her head marked her as royalty, and a fine white fur coat flung around her shoulders and reaching down to her short white skirt added to her sense of class and sophistication. One of her feet clad in tall white boots tapped against the floor as she gazed condescendingly upon the two mortals before her. "Answer me now, who of you has seen the need to summon me? I call none my Master, but if you should prove yourselves worthy, for a short time, I might be persuaded to play pretend. That is always exciting when done correctly, after all..."

Kiara fell to her hands and knees before her, postrating and lowering her forehead to the floor. After a moment, Kaori followed her example, keeping her respectful distance. "I am Sessyion Kiara, your humble retainer, Queen of All You Survey, The Eternal Lady. Your will shall me mine, and all will know love under your wise reign."

"Ah, a follower of the new faith," Rider smiled saucily, noting Kiara's nun outfit and reaching over with the riding crop she held in a hand, playfully swatting Kiara's rear end with it. "It pleases me to see even you recognize my authority now. Very well, I accept this contract between us. I look forward to obtaining this great promised treasure I was told about, the Wish Granting Cup. Let your heart vibrate with the dawn of a new day, sister of the young faith. The campaign for our ultimate conquest has just begun."

 _"Amen,"_ Kiara fervently answered, and Kaori mouthed out the same, nothing but a second afterwards.

"Ufufufuuu!" Rider laughed at this reaction. "Now, what if you start showing your devotion by kissing my feet, slave...?"

And Kiara fervorously did so.

* * *

 _Fate Stay Night_ , _Fate Prototype_ , _Fate Zero_ , _Fate Hollow Ataraxia_ , _Fate EXTRA_ , _Fate Extella_ , _Fate Apocrypha_ , _Fate Strange/Fake_ , _Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya_ , _Fate Requiem, Fate School Life_ and _Fate Grand Order_ all are the creation and intellectual property of Nasu Kinoko and Type-Moon.

All other featured and mentioned franchises belong to their respective copyright owners.

With Special Thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, Darkenning, Kamenhero25, Moczo, Ol'Vesper, GhostXavier and The Infamous Man for the inspiration.

* * *

 **Lovely Magical Collectible Waifu Game of Death!**

* * *

 **Chapter One.**

* * *

 **Next of Kin.**

* * *

"Shirou, do you know if something happened to Shinji?" asked Ryuudou Issei, the bespectacled, unassuming Class Rep of Emiya's class, while the boys in Kuzuki-sensei's class gathered their bags and started leaving the classroom. "Out of everyone in the class, you're the closest to him..."

"Hmm?" Shirou said, zipping his backpack up and throwing it over a shoulder. "Ah, sorry, I have no idea either, Issei. That's weird, he never skips any classes. Have you tried contacting his sister?"

The shorter boy with darker hair nodded, even as the two exited the room, leaving a groaning Yuuki Rito behind moping the floor, only Shirou devoting a goodbye wave to him on their way out. "I did, during lunchtime, but apparently she didn't come either. Their grandfather is old and ill, so well, it's a delicate issue, maybe it'd be better if you, being a friend, would stop by and ask instead of me. You know we don't get along all that well..."

This was an understatement if there ever was one, but Shirou didn't lack enough tact as to point it out. "I'm not that sure we're still friends either, actually, but... I'll stop by and check on it, fine? Hey, do you want me to check on that air conditioner while we're on it? I think we've stalled on it long enough..."

"You don't mind, right today?" Issei asked, pushing his glasses up. "What about your sister?"

"That's okay, I'll tell Fuji-nee to take Miyu home for me," Shirou replied, pulling his cellphone out and starting a text message. "Maybe Mana-san isn't minding much, but I'm sure Shiho-chan must be at her patience's edge."

"She always is," Issei shook his head with a faint smile. "But okay, if you don't have a problem with it, sure, we'll treat you to dinner. Thank you very much, Emiya, it's-"

"Never a bother, why do you keep worrying about these things?" Shirou asked as they left the building for the Masculine High School, and started the long uphill path towards the local shrine. The old, large temple was visible near the top of a nearby mountain, surrounded by lush vegetation. The local priest, an old, respected elder second only to the Headmaster in prestige and influence, had kept three orphans under his care ever since the fires of Fuyuki, and Issei was one of them. Sensing a connection to his own situation, Shirou had been quick to relate to the polite, quiet boy once they had started sharing a classroom, even if Issei kept on being a rather private person.

One of the other orphans, a short girl around thirteen or her early fourteens, wearing the white and red hakama of a Miko, stood by the temple's entrance at the time of their arrival, sweeping the front steps with a bamboo broom. Her face was more cute than beautiful, rounded and still quite childlike, and that, coupled with the four large pigtails her red hair- far brighter in hues than Shirou's- was arranged, gave her the pseudo comical appearance of a concentrated octopus. She looked up from her task and hummed at the newcomers, both of them waving a greeting at her. "Ah, Nii-san, Sempai," she glared through squinting eyes. "Came for the air cooler, right?"

"Yeah, sorry to have taken this long, Shiho-chan," Shirou smiled, in a way that would have made most other girls take notice and flutter inside, but only had Shiho half-sneer dismissively. She had eyes for only a man, after all. "There was the computer of the SOS Brigade, and before that the fans of the Tea Ceremony Club, and after that the speakers for the cheerleading squad..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's nice to hear everyone's woes are fixed, thank you very much, Sempai!" Shiho waved a hand around, in a way strikingly reminiscent of Taiga's manners. "Why don't you just get in already, Oneesama is-"

"Oh, Sempai, Onii-san, welcome," said a much taller, dark skinned exotic beauty in the same Hakama type, a curvaceous cool presence of long pitch black hair and serene eyes, whose stepping out the temple made Shiho quickly get back to work diligently. "How do you do? Please come in, dinner is almost ready."

"Thank you very much and good afternoon, Mana-san," Shirou bowed, and he and Issei followed Tatsumiya Mana inside of the house annex by the temple proper, leaving their shoes by the door. "Good afternoon, Katsuhito-sama," he next told the man sitting at a small table, mostly concealed from sight by the open newspaper held before himself. "I hope I'm not intruding, Issei told me today it'd be a good day to look into that air conditioner?"

"Oh, good afternoon to you too, Emiya-kun," replied the gravelly voice of the old man who was not lowering the newspaper yet, despite Mana's reproachful glare. "How's your family doing? You haven't stopped by for a while..."

"Well, sorry about that," Shirou said, "You know Fuji-nee is always... busy. This weekend, I promise. No doubt Miyu-chan will want a prayer for her class trip, wherever it takes her. Yuuna-kun told us you'd be going to Kyoto, Mana-san?"

The young woman nodded as she began setting the table, her grandfather doing his patrt by absently lifting the newspaper enough as to let her work. "Indeed. A fable, historical city, a choice I am fine with. By the way, wherever your own trip takes you, Sempai," she took a second to point at the back of Shirou's right hand and say, "I hope you take good care of that rash before that."

"Oh, this?" Shirou said, scratching himself on the redenned area. "I don't think it's much, maybe it's just those cookies Fuji-nee baked. Miyu-chan got the right idea on tasting only one..."

"You should have someone look at it," Issei adviced. "You're always sticking your hands in all kinds of old machines, maybe you got some sort of infection?"

"I told you it's all right, maybe I'll put some antibiotics on it and it'll go away," Shirou insisted, sitting down as Mana called out for Shiho to come in. "Really, it's just a rash, I've had dozens of those before. Nothing to worry about at all..."

"Wow," Shiho said, moving in and taking her own seat at the table. "That foreshadowing, Sempai. You sure are a man who likes living dangerously."

"What do you even mean with that?"

* * *

Fixing the air conditioner had not taken long, but between one thing and another, it had been fairly late by the time Shirou left the Masaki shrine. Heading down the hill, making it to the bus stop, taking the bus all the way to the entrance of the residential sector, and then marching down the streets leading home took even further, and by the time he was at mid-point it had started raining, a sudden and brutal downpour the likes of which Mahora had not experienced for months.

"Just my luck..." Shirou sighed, pulling under the shade of a recently built residential tower, soon to be occupied, and texting Taiga again to let her know he'd be later than expected. Then, however, something caught on his attention. There was a whooshing sound passing above his head, and looking up, he could see two large blurs zoom past, moving from one rooftop to another and disappearing back into the night as soon as they had shown up. One of them had been an electric blue, and the other stark black, both clashing briefly for at least two random intervals that Shirou could count before vanishing across the rooftops.

That had been strange enough by itself, but only a moment later, when Shirou was still staring up, something else caught his eye. Much slower than the dual blurs, but still fast enough to look impressively inhuman, a woman's figure hopped from one rooftop to the next, following the trail of the clashing blurs. Shirou gasped, thinking he recognized the black hair trailing behind this rapidly moving figure, and the slim curves of her body in a school uniform, and he reached up for her, mouthing a name that never was voiced before she, too, got lost of sight in the darkness.

Shirou pulled back, visibly disturbed, and yet also somewhat relieved for some reason. "I must be seeing things..." he decided.

Shirou knew a few things about magic from Kiritsugu, so when people rumored about the mysterious sexy magical vigilante, Sailor V, he felt inclined to believe there might be some truth to that recent urban legend. As a matter of fact, had he been more apt, he might have tried to stalk the night in a costume of his own, like the American Bat-Man, or that alleged duck-troll-man figure in Neo-Tokyo. However, while he guessed he might have just glimpsed Sailor V herself in action, and that perhaps he hadn't hallucinated, that young woman did not look at all like the merchandise at the stores, videogame shops, and that arcade parlor Taiga would drag him and Miyu into at times. Instead, even though he only got to see her from behind, she looked an awful lot like...

No, he chided himself, shaking his head and starting to walk again under the receeding rain. No way she'd ever do something like that, right? Never her, of all people, that was just plain ridiculous. Though only from afar, he'd known her long enough to be sure that was not her nature, and besides...

He almost had reached the actually occupied parts of the sector when he heard a pained moan coming from a nearby empty lot.

Coming to an abrupt halt, Emiya stepped into the lot, and squinted through the darkness, until he caught on the sight of a small purple bundle at the other end of it, lying on the dirt and surrounded by several mewling cats.

Shirou rushed to its side, forgetting everything that had transpired behind. For he had just seen that bundle stirring, and there was no mistaking the fact it was a living person, huddled into a twitching heap on the ground. A person who looked small in stature, perhaps a child, or...

"Hey!" Shirou called out, reaching over and taking a hold of this person's right shoulder, lightly shaking it in the hopes of waking them up. "Are you okay?! Do you want me to call an ambulance?! Would you-"

The stranger looked back at him over their shoulder, but Shirou only could get a look at the lower half of a face, for the rest was hidden by some kind of hood or cloak. Even so, the delicate lines of that fair skinned chin, the small and slightly pointy nose, and the mouth finely coated on purplish lipstik assured him immediately he had just found a woman. Although one never knew for sure, but no matter the gender, he was not going to let this person die alone under the rain if he could help it. "Can you move?" he gently asked.

The head moved from one side to the other with a great effort. _"I'm fading..."_ spoke a woman's voice, a voice that once had to be smooth and refinated but now came out in hoarse, struggling pants.

"Hold on, please," he asked, grabbing her by a hand sticking out a long sleeve of regal purple. "I'm Emiya Shirou, I don't live far from here. I, I'll take you home," he promised, moving along as to pull her up onto his back as best as he could without hurting her, "And then we'll call you a doctor, you'll be fine..."

She weighed surprisingly little even for someone her size, and for a moment Shirou felt inclined to believe her claims of vanishing. _"Don't bother..."_ she requested, letting her head drop so her cheek, chillingly cold like a corpse's, took the back of Shirou's neck. "There's nothing you can do..."

"Of course there is," Shirou said, moving out of the lot with the woman on his back, keeping her in place while looking around for someone, only to find every street in sight empty. If he hurried, he'd make it home in only a few minutes, although the thought of ringing on the first house with lights on he saw was tempting. Then again, his house and Professor Akashi were the best bets he... no, they, could have at the time, he guessed, and so he spurred himself to go faster, almost slipping on several puddles on the sidewalks, but never letting go of his charge.

 _"It's been... a bad week,"_ the woman confided him, pressing her sopping wet figure against her back and letting her arms relax by his sides. _"But I'm glad I'll die comforted by someone. You remind me of my brother..."_

"Please don't talk," Shirou said. "You've got to keep your strenght..."

 _"I don't deserve it. You will see, I killed my brother..."_

Shirou rolled his eyes. Oh dear, what he had ran into this time? "Don't worry, you wouldn't believe what my father did in his time..." he mumbled.

 _"Hmmm?"_ she dizzily asked.

"Nothing," Shirou said stoically, and thank Heavens, he had reached his doorstep before expected. He couldn't ring on with both arms busy on holding the woman, so he just lifted a leg and began punting at the door. "Fuji-neeee! It's me! Look, I can't open myself, just lend me a hand here, will you?! I'm-!"

"Goddammit, Shirou, what's the freaking racket?!" Taiga burst out, pushing the door open from the inside and making Emiya Shirou, Fearless Would Be Hero of Justice, yelp back in surprised fear, despite seeing it coming. "When have I set a bad example for you of coming late and- _**With a drunk woman?!"**_ she ended up shrieking, looking at the load on Shirou's back, who just scowled at her with half-closed eyes, as if upset at her noisy behavior. "What is this I don't even, Shirou!"

He sighed and stepped past her and into the house. "I'm sorry to say perhaps your week won't be getting any better, Miss," he sympathetically told the woman he was bringing in.

* * *

The two figures who had been pursuing and attacking each other from the campus had reached the city itself now, never stopping their heated combat, and neither ever pronouncing single word. Part and parcel of the strategies in a Holy Grail War is not revealing information about yourself to the enemy, but the lean, yet finely sculpted man in a tight electric blue bodysuit could tell his opponent just was not a talkative person in particular.

He finally decided breaking the ice with a snicker as his long and sharp red spear once again met the woman's invisible blade while they jumped from one building to the next, landing on a rooftop where someone had hung a lot of clothings to dry, and scattering a flock of sleeping pigeons in all directions. He grinned at her with savage intensity, a fierce sparkle to his sharp eyes. "And here I thought my Master was a cold woman!" he taunted the pale woman in the black dress as they took a brief halt, measuring each other in a tense standstill. He couldn't tell exactly how she was looking at her, what with the clunky black visor of metallic shine covering the upper half of her fair face, but he knew she was not blind to his subtle shifting on his feet. "What is your problem, My Lady? We should share our thoughts while we still can."

The woman with very pale blond hair growled like a furious dragon and dashed ahead, swinging at him with her translucid blade, which shimmered and shifted into visibility, gaining a combination of striking red and black tones. The sword of a villain, a genocider, something this hero of light easily leapt over with a skilled agility, slashing at her with his spear in turn, only to have her pull her head back at the last second, avoiding decapitation. "A 'my actions speak louder than words' lass, huh?" the male Servant chuckled, again dropping to his feet before her, both combatants keeping a prudent distance of each other. "Those usually are fine with me, but there's a limit to everything, my dear. Why won't you say anything? Are you a Saber, or a Berserker, anyway?"

"Fool," she gruffly breathed out, swinging her sword in place and then readying it before herself. "I am Saber and I will slay you, that is all you need to know."

"Well, yes, I would love to see about that, but I'm afraid so would they," the male Servant frowned, annoyed as a police helicopter on patrol began approaching, throwing massive lights ever closer to the fighters. "I reckon, if your Master is anything like mine, they will-"

"I will slay you later," she promised with dry, but seething venom, and then disappeared altogether, as if becoming one with the night itself.

"Okay then, that's good to know," the spearman shrugged, then easily jumped several buildings back and out of the helicopter's sights, flipping them a two finger salute and wide smirk as he left them behind.

Shortly after, bouncing a couple rooftops more, he stopped before his Master, who finally had caught up to him. The black haired, green eyed girl grounded herself to a stop, panting and placing her hands on her knees. "You're fast!" she noted out, instantly berating herself for being as painfully obvious as a certain other person.

The man with blue hair shrugged, easily swinging his spear over his broad shoulders and keeping it there with both arms. "In combat, always, out of it, I like taking my time with things, rest assured. She's fast, too, but I'd have finished her hadn't your authorities shown up to meddle."

"Saber, right?" the girl asked, folding her arms and regaining her breath as best as she could, trying not to look too winded before him. Even after pumping her Magic Circuits up to give them chase all the way from where the unknown Servant had ambushed them during a scouting patrol, she had not been able to keep up with them at all; Servants truly were fearsome existences after all.

"She confirmed it herself," the man nodded. "Don't worry too much, though, I have her measured by now. Next time she won't be that lucky."

"That's good to hear," Tohsaka Rin nodded. "Didn't she give any hints about her true identity, Lancer?"

"None at all. Other than stating her Class and threatening my life, she said nothing. "What about you? Found any signs of her Master along the way?"

Rin shook her head, frowning. "None at all. But Masters of Sabers tend to be elite magi. They were probably cloaking their presence through the fight."

"I doubt they were around, though, or they'd have used that advantage to snipe at you while you weren't looking," Lancer pointed out, aiming a finger like a gun at Rin's head and blowing a short whistling. "Don't you think so?"

"Good point," she conceded, grumbling, "but then, a careful magus would know that might have left them open to spotting from you."

Lancer nodded back. "That's right, killing the rival Master and then looking for a replacement is what most Servants would do in a case like that. Now what, Master? Tired already? Don't say so..."

"Tomorrow's another school day, Lancer," Rin grumbled, gesturing at him to follow her back to the Academy. "As much as I'd like taking a sabbatical from classes, doing that right now would put a huge bullseye on me."

"They already should know you're the Landlady of the area, what difference does that make...?" Lancer rolled his eyes, following her nonetheless. "You know, it might be my imagination, but fighting that Servant felt... strangely off, as if there was something unnatural about her."

"You are long dead people brought back by magic to fight for a blessed cup, Lancer, everything about you and us is unnatural," Rin cynically stated.

"That isn't what I mean, woman! It's difficult to explain, but it was not as much as I was fighting the woman herself, but something moving her around. That was why I thought she could be a Berserker at first, but it doesn't even feel like the effects of a Mad Enhancement. It's something else, but I couldn't tell exactly what..." he pondered, rubbing his chin in a puzzled way.

Rin half-smiled. "If you ever fought something like that, it must have been in your first life. It's not like you ever were summoned first. My family holds the records for all four Wars, I would know."

"I don't think I'd remember being summoned anyway," Lancer said, still sounding vaguely troubled. "But the more I think about that, the more it nags at me. Oh, well! It won't make any difference anymore once we've killed her, right, Master?"

"I would hope not, Lancer," Rin said, briefly stopping by the edge of this latest rooftop, and staring down at the large crack made in the form of one of Saber's footprints, no doubt from one of her violent leaps and bounds. At the middle of this print, something small and black oozed and squirmed for a second, under Rin's steely gaze, before sweeping into the concrete and disappearing completely. "But I wouldn't jump to conclusions yet either."

* * *

It was another perfectly average evening at the Akashi residence. Akashi Wataru sat at his personal desk grading school tests, while Yuuna sat before their television, playing _Doom_ in her Play Station X. That was, until the Professor's cellphone rang to the merry tune of _Happy Material_ , and he whipped it out with an alert, "Hello? How may I- Oh, it's you, Taiga."

Yuuna perked up, pausing the game and glancing back, paying attention to her father's conversation in the next room, a task rendered difficult by how much he had lowered his voice of a sudden."Is that so? I... I see," he was saying. "Well, that's... Uh huh. Don't worry. I'll be there right now." Cutting the call short with a sigh, he headed out of his studio and towards the front door. "Yuuna, I won't take too long. Shirou-kun found someone in the street who apparently needs some help, so I'll be taking a look at them. Please stay here and just wait for me, okay?"

Yuuna blinked. "You sure it's not one of the men of Tiger-sensei's gang who was shot again? I don't get why you gotta get yourself involved in that stuff, it's not like you're a medic..."

"It's not _her_ gang, and it's nothing like that this time," her father patiently said, already at the door. "All the same, I want you to stay put no matter what, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, as if I cared," grouched the girl, going back to her game with a wounded expression. "Go on, you're as bad as Sempai himself, you knew that? It's not like he's picking kittens off the street like Chachamaru, he-"

Her beloved Papa was already gone, however, slamming and locking the door after himself, and Yuuna fumed angrily to herself. "Maybe I'll join the Chase Negi Stakes just to piss him off. Hell, what's the worst thing that could happen...?"

Moments after, an impressed Akashi paused before the woman Shirou and Taiga had placed on the later's bed, her hood pulled back to reveal a face of incredible, timeless beauty. He was not the type to get struck easily by the attractive of others, and he could say he'd only fallen in actual love twice, but there was no denying the overwhelming sensation this lady had made him feel. However, not only this was not the time to think of that, but Taiga herself was nowhere as fascinated, much less contented, by the situation.

"Wataru-kun," she coldly told the other teacher, folding her arms and tapping her foot in a slipper down. "I know Mahora is full of weird cosplayers and random no life nerds who film themselves playing roles to post online," she expanded, as somewhere else in Mahora one Hasegawa Chisame sneezed loudly, "but this... this kind of goes beyond dedication to the role, doesn't it?" she accused, taking the tip of a finger to one of the sharp ears of the bed ridden and unconscious female. "This, this is some of your crazy magical crap, ain't it?!"

"I'd say it most likely is..." quietly observed a blue pajama clad Miyu, from the doorstep of the bedroom.

"I thought I told you to stay in your room!" Taiga snapped. "Even Yuuna-chan did when she was told!"

Professor Akashi sat on a chair by the bed, reading the unknown woman's pulse. "Her morphology seems to match that of some races from Mundus Magicus," he informed, "but they cannot survive in Earth without previous massive biological tampering. Then again, if she was placed in an immigration program and somehow her treatment failed, that might explain her collapse. I should call Headmaster Konoe, see if there is any-"

The woman then moved an arm, grabbing him by an arm and groaning a pained, strained, _"No...!"_

Her eyes were still closed. Shirou sighed. "She was... delirious all the way here," he explained, without going into the details. "Mundus Magicus, are you sure, Sensei? Dad told me about that place once or twice, but I thought their locals didn't like coming here...?"

Taiga was pacing back and forth across the room, pulling a pack of Pocky out of her breast pocket and starting chewing on one nervously. "That blasted world killed Kiritsugu, and almost killed Miyu-chan, I can't believe you brought another piece of it here, Shirou! No offense, Wataru-kun, but overall, magic is nothing but-!"

"What was I supposed to do, Fuji-nee?!" Shirou protested while Akashi pulled a small black and white wand out of one of his pockets and began chanting something in Latin. "Leave her to die on the dirt?!"

"You were supposed to think of your sister's safety first, that's what, brat!" she growled at him. "You know well how much she- Say, aren't you going to bed yet?!" she turned her head back to yell at Miyu, still standing at the same spot.

"I'm not sleepy..." the little girl said.

Akashi passed the wand several times over the prone woman's body, concentrating and whispering further in Latin, ignoring the discussion going on behind them. Finally, the woman opened those mesmerizing soulful eyes and smiled laboriously at him, and he felt his cheeks heating like a child's at that. Fortunately for him, Taiga was too busy arguing with Shirou to notice.

"The Hero of Justice, the Hero of Justice! You saw where that left your father, and you're still clinging on that! He told you himself...!"

"Well, if not because he still believed in that, Miyu wouldn't even be here now!" Shirou said, and Miyu nodded in silence. "You make it sound so childish, calling it that, but there's nothing wrong on helping-!"

"Of course there isn't, but there's a difference between doing good deeds that are safe for everyone and meddling with the occult! Wataru has trained his whole life for that and he's still a desk jockey mage! Um, no offense, Wataru-kun-"

"Noooone taken!" the other teacher said, clenching his teeth and swallowing his embarrassment as the stranger's smile seemed to grow faintly amused at the exchange, now he'd finished healing her as best as he could.

"Right! And you know why is that?!" Taiga told Shirou. "Because he understands that, when one has a family and loved ones, they are much important than abstract ideals of 'helping everyone'! Your father would gladly tell you how much that costed him, were he still here! The first and only people you have to help is your sister, and the girl you'll eventually marry, not even me because I can take good damn care of myself! But to jeopardize Miyu-chan like-"

"I didn't even know she was not from this world! I didn't think of taking the hood off! Why should have I?!"

"Well, why didn't you start by telling me that, then?!"

"You never let me!"

"Ahem!" Akashi rasped, standing up and facing them. "Listen now, before you keep on squabbling uselessly and I send you to the corner, I've done all I can for her, but I'm not sure it's taking all that well. Which makes sense because I'm not a specialized healer and I haven't ever treated a Mundus Magicus native. So I'll go call the Headmaster now, unless you have any really good reasons why I shouldn't-"

 _"Holy Grail War..."_ the woman in the bed said.

Immediately, Shirou and Miyu blinked in startled confusion, at the same time as Akashi and Taiga paled starkly, like twin sheets of paper.

* * *

"Holy Grail War?" Shirou asked, moving closer towards the bed.

The woman could speak a bit more clear and firmly now. "A conflict set between seven magi and Heroic Spirits fighting in their behalf, for the sake of a blessed cup that could grant any wish. For this, they are meant to slay each other, until only one pair of Master and Servant remains to claim their prize. I am a Servant of the Caster class, but regrettably my summoner was... less than adequate..."

"But... That's impossible!" Shirou protested. "No offense, but what kind of-"

Miyu interrupted softly from the doorstep, staring down. "Running for over two hundred years now, the Heaven's Feel ritual, as it is most properly called, has been taking place in the lands of Fuyuki through four iterations now, each happening every sixty years. The Sakatsukis never took an active part on it, but they were chroniclers of the doom they would bring repeteadly. Man longs to reach the ultimate secrets of the universe, and the sacrifice of the Servants, the best mankind has to offer, is allegedly the key to the Root of all things."

There was a long, stunned beat as everyone stared at her, finally broken by Taiga. "See what happens when you don't get enough sleep, Miyu-chan?!"

Miyu shrugged. "Just saying."

"My sister... is adopted," Shirou uneasily explained to Caster. "So I am, actually, but- Never mind that, now! If I'm understanding you, you had some sort of 'Master', what happened to him? Why were you all alone and dying back there if you were supposed to have someone to look after you?"

Taiga frowned. "Why'd you be so fast to assume it'd be a man, Shirou?"

"That man... is dead now," Caster answered distantly. "Grail Wars are lethal by their very same nature, and those who are not apt enough pay the price quickly."

"You were attacked by an enemy Servant, and they murdered your Master," Akashi surmissed. "From what I know, Servants are pulled from this world quickly after losing their Master, that is why you're in this state..."

"Masters work as our anchors of sorts," Caster ellaborated, choosing to distract them from the first part of his statement. "We don't belong to this time, and so the World's Will tries to delete us from existence at any time we don't have a Master supplying us with the necessary mana. This gentleman's magic has supplied me with some, enough as to survive a few hours, but sooner or later I will fade unless I am taken by another Master."

"I'll do it!" Shirou offered himself.

"Shirou!" Taiga snapped. "You don't even know what kind of 'Servant' this is!"

"She already said she's a Caster, Fuji-nee," the boy patiently reminded her. "You really should pay more attention to these things..."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"You don't even know what being a Master entails," Akashi pointed out.

"Sure I do," Shirou said. "She just said that too, Masters are magi who push their Servants to kill each other, so all I'll do is to keep her from killing and being killed, isn't that the most logical, moral *and* easiest thing to do?"

"I'm sure it doesn't quite work that way, Emiya-kun..." Akashi sighed deeply, taking his glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was starting to develop a much deeper sympathy for Taiga now.

"Actually, I would be quite contented not taking part into any fights for the Cup," Caster frankly said, folding her hands on her chest. "My only desire, after all those quests and travails, would be settling down with a peaceful life, probably raising a family of my own... but it is a hopeless dream as long as other Servants roam. If I don't go to them, they will come to me."

"Aaaaand here's the catch," Taiga said, grinding her teeth together.

"I can't deny my presence here puts you all in jeopardy," Caster said. "If you would just wait a couple hours, however, I will quietly retreat from your world, before anyone comes after me. Of course, you always could kill me before that, too, but I ask you to let me at least enjoy some of your home's warmth for this short while. It is so pleasant here, despite all of the tacky and garish mementos..."

"They are highly valuable kendo trophies from all over Japan, philistine!" Taiga growled. "You aren't even really going to die, are you, you just want to freeload...!"

"Forget about that!" Shirou said, grabbing Caster's hand. "No matter what, I'm not letting you die just like this, what kind of people would do that?! God, I'm a terrible host, I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Emiya Shirou, this is my sister Miyu, the lady is our legal guardian Fujimura Taiga, and the good man is our neighbor, Professor Akashi Wataru. Listen, I'm not much of a magus, I only could learn the very basics from my late father, but if I am apt enough as to become a Master, I-"

"Hmmm," Caster interrupted him, lifting his hand enough as to get a good look at it. "Yes, I would say you indeed have the capacity to become a Master. However, not a very good one, if I may say so." She looked all around the room. "Out of everyone present, the young lady has the best magical capacity by far, the lovely gentleman is a decent practicioner, your mother has none to speak of whatsoever, and yours sadly doesn't match your enthusiasm for the task."

"I'm not their mother!" Taiga said. "I'm more like their young, sexy but highly responsible big sister!"

Akashi rolled his sleeves up. "Fine, so if that's how things are going to be, I will help you myself, Caster-san. Miyu-chan and Shirou-kun are still just children, so we can't put their lives in the line of fire. This is only adults should be charged with."

"Wataru-kun," Taiga said, "aren 't you forgetting something? Like, the fact that if you take this... whatever she is into your house you will be putting a target on yourself *and* Yuuna-chan?"

"Yuuna-chan?" Caster blinked. Was this dashing gentleman who had just offered to bear her weight already taken? Out of all things, a cheater with an angelic face was the last she could ever tolerate-

"His daughter," Shirou helpfully supplied.

"Oh, so he is married?" Caster asked, her suspicions still undeterred.

"He's a widower, actually," Shirou explained.

"Oh, then that is perfectly adequate, for him to take me as his Servant!" Caster smiled, sounding genuinely relieved. "I admire the drive of a father who keeps looking after his daughter on his own, after his beloved's passing. It must have been-"

Then they all noticed Miyu had stepped past between them when nobody was looking, placed a hand on Caster's arm, and now was whispering something in a strange foreign language only Caster seemed to recognize, although that didn't surprise her any less than it did the others. There was a faint glow coming from one to the other, and back forth, and when Miyu pulled her hand back, it was marked on its back by the crimson design of a eight-pointed star under a stylized drop, and above a set of twin curved daggers. "The contract of Master and Servant between us is herefore competed, you don't have to fear for your life anymore... not yet, at least..."

"Why- _**Why in the world did you ever do something like that, Miyu-chan?!"**_ Taiga screamed madly, streaming large waterfalls of tears down her face.

"She said it herself, I am the most qualified person present to take her as my Servant..." the little girl rationally replied.

"Like heck you are, you are eleven!" Taiga said while Shirou facepalmed. "Oh, where did I fail, Kiritsugu?! You're looking down at me and sneering, aren't you, Kiritsugu?! Send me a signal you don't hate me for this...!"

"Dad doesn't hate you, Fuji-nee!" an exhasperated Shirou said.

Taiga sniffled. "Thank you for sending me a message through your beloved son, Kiritsugu." Then she angrily wagged a finger at Miyu. "You're grounded for a whole freaking month, you hear me, young lady?!"

"I never go anywhere, anyway..." Miyu reminded her.

"Despite how much I keep telling you you should socialize...!" Taiga seethed. "But you're right! Two months, then!"

"You are contradicting yourself, now," Caster said, "that will only leave Master with even less chances to socialize..."

 _"She's Master Miyu-sama for you, woman!"_ Taiga roared.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the hills of Northern Wales, an annexed part of the Britannian Empire, Twice H. Pieceman walked from a wing of the gigantic fortress housing the Merdiana Academy of Higher Learning, an exclusive school that, he had been recently told, taught youngsters in arts and disciplines his scientific formation would have deemed ridiculous mere days ago.

The fact there were now children flying on brooms over his head as the young woman in a wine colored business suit guided him through the inner gardens separating them from their destination made it difficult for him to keep refusing the existence of that world anymore, and yet he felt compelled to tell the lady with short and very light blonde hair, "I still barely can believe this is happening. How long did it take you, to get used to the idea?"

Donet Mc Guinness smiled at the man. "Actually, I was born from an initiated family, so this was a part of me since my earliest childhood. You must understand, Doctor Pieceman, this society very rarely accepts outsiders. We care for you, unlike the Clock Tower, and we wil do everything in our power to help you from afar, but it was long established, between your leaders and ours, keeping both societies apart would be for the ultimate greater good."

"Yes, I can see so many things going wrong if this leaked out to the masses..." Twice pondered, rubbing his hand and looking again at the fateful designs branded on him by these forces he barely could grasp in his mind. Horrible images of strife, global war and confusion, washed over him, triggering a mild episode, and the man trembled violently, slowing down.

Donet stopped, looking back at him. "Doctor? Should I call one of our healers? You have paled so much, so suddenly..."

He shook his head, collecting back his breath while trying to dispell the memories of burnt bodies and screams puncturing the distance. "No... No, I'm fine. Just a bit stressed, that is all. I can do this. I know I can."

"Very well, but if you think you cannot, please just tell us so," the woman said, guiding him to a narrow door leading into a dizzingly tall flight of stairs up one of the towers of the castle. They began their way up as she kept on explaining, "We have received intelligence Clock Tower and the Yggdmillennia factions have already sent representatives of their own to the site. That is why the Headmaster asked whether you could do this today or not, but if you don't feel like it yet, we won't pressure you..."

"I said I'm okay," Pieceman insisted. "I must warn you, however, I don't know if your Headmaster told you this, but I don't know Japanese..."

"We will take care of that," she assured him. "We have sets of spells that can implant the necessary knowledge of a language in your mind. In addition to that, the best catalyst our psychics could assign after taking readings from your recent dreams has been secured thanks to our contacts in Japan. We have the utmost confidence you will find your Heroic Spirit to be a most agreeable and trustworthy soul."

"Thank you," he said, wondering what kind of barbarians wouldn't think of putting elevators on a tower this tall. "Is it that important to beat this Clock Tower and these Yggdmillennia to the Grail? What would happen should they put their hands on it."

He could tell, despite her back being turned on him, that Donet had to be grimacing at the idea, just from her subtly body language. "Before I answer that... perhaps I should explain the nature of the schism in our society. Centuries ago, after the Crusades, and while magic slowly fazed away from public knowledge, the community of magic users split into two major schools of thought. The difference in naming is very small- they call themselves magi, plural for magus, and we call ourselves the more modern mages, plural for mage. But our social ideologies run much deeper than that. Magi believe in knowledge itself as the main drive behind magical research, while mages believe on the application of the principles as our first and foremost incentive. Currently, we coexist in a relative harmony, with the Holy Church acting as a mediator, but our leaders wouldn't trust magi with the means to reach the ultimate power that, theoretically, ultimate knowledge gained from the Grail would bring."

"Are they dangerous people?"

"I haven't ever liked using slurs," Donet said, "but the number of magi I have known that I couldn't brand as complete filthy scumbags can easily be counted with both hands, with fingers to spare."

"Oh..."

"I know I must sound rather close minded myself," she admitted, "But had you been found out by a magus instead of Anya Cocolova, sir, you wouldn't have been asked to cooperate with them. They would have placed a Sealing Designation on you, arranged for your disappearance, cut the hand off your corpse, and given your Command Seals to one of their own. For them, the likes of you are just, after all, 'mudbloods'."

Twice sounded faintly if darkly amused when he asked, "Like in those books for children? I have a niece, you know."

"Mrs. Rowling knows a few things, as a matter of fact." They had, finally, reached the end of the stairs, and Donet pulled a small silver key out of her breast pocket, using it to open the large wooden door before them. She led him into a huge domed chamber, flanked by dozens of chanting mages in brown robes, and at the middle of it, a large circle drawn on the floor, with a jade statuette on top of it. Standing by the circle, supporting himself of a long staff, the old, gray man Anya had introduced to him days ago as the Dean of Merdiana smiled.

"Welcome, Doctor Pieceman," he kindly said, beckoning him closer. "We may start at any time you'd like."

Shortly after, once he had done what had been asked of him, an awestruck, silently gasping Twice stared up at the otherwordly creature who had answered his call. Even most of the robed mages and Donet herself were visibly rattled as well, although the Headmaster only nodded approvingly. This creature was human in apperance, but there was something else about him, an impression of incredibly purity and radiance, that made Twice feel the most peaceful and relieved he had ever felt, while also filling him with a vague, drilling dread, making him a mouse, no, a speck of dust looking up at magnificence itself, made into a slim, tall, nearly lanky man with long greenish hair and wearing scarlet red, sitting on a golden and green throne that hovered above the circle. Twice had never been a religious person, and much less given to Eastern mysticism, but something about him complied him to bow and pay worship, while another part made him think he would be offending him by doing that. So he pretty much remained nailed to the floor where he was.

"Who... Who are you?" he finally asked.

The man spoke with a measured, considerate voice, bowing deeply to Twice. "Blessings be upon you. The forces you have resorted to have named me Saver. However, every man must be, in the ultimate scheme of matters, their own savior. Even so, I will be glad to provide you with the means and ways to enlightment, if you will let me. Think your answer carefully, man who would call himself Master. By taking on this contract between us, you owe to yourself steering down a path of virtue that might not agree with your desires at the time, but would be the best for you, in this one's opinion."

Twice smiled truly for the first time in so many years, and his answer came out far more quickly than he would have expected before setting foot on this chamber. "I accept."

* * *

"Oh, good morning, Shirou," Issei greeted him the next morning, as the young redhead entered the classroom with a heaving sigh. "What happened? You look like you had a rough night..."

"We... just happened to have unexpected visits, that's all," Emiya replied, dropping down on his seat and rubbing his eyes. "Fuji-nee's still fixing a few things regarding that, so... she won't be coming today, I'm afraid. I couldn't call Shinji either, sorry, but if he doesn't come tod-"

"I'm here, what's the hassle?" groaned Matou Shinji, also visibly not the same as ever, coming through the door next, with his bag hung over a shoulder. "Geez, can't I miss a single day without you guys making a racket about it? Honestly..."

"Nobody here was giving a crap but those two, Matou," flatly told him a handsome gray haired boy sitting by a window and checking on his text messages while the teacher arrived. "Why did you think we would?"

Shinji shot this young man a highly upset glare. "As if any of us would miss you either, Ren- _kun_!"

"Well, haven't we all had nails for breakfast today?" casually wondered Yuuki Rito, who lived a few houses across Shirou's with his sister and cousin- and nominally his parents, who were afiliated with the Arts departments of Mahora even if they very rarely dropped by at all- and who was no fan of Ren at all either. "That's why we never get anything done, we-"

"Good morning, Kuzuki-sensei!" Issei interrupted this no doubt brilliant and insightful interpolation right in its metaphorical cradle, clapping for the class to stand as the grim, austere Kuzuki Souichirou entered the classroom with those eerie steps of his that never made any sound.

"Good morning, everyone," the man with hollow, emotionless eyes behind his glasses greeted them, as mechanically as ever, moving to stand behind his desk. "I have been asked to remind you, especially those with relatives of a female persuasion, of the recent disappearances in the commercial district, and that no one should wander out of the campus past noon."

"Ah, yes, about that, Sensei," spoke Kosaka Kyosuke, black haired and extremely average looking elder child of the Police Commissioner. "Actually, most of those girls appeared last night, walking around an empty lot by the riverside. There's still a few missing, and the ones the Force gathered were very disoriented and couldn't remember anything of the last few days, but overall, they were okay otherwise..."

Shirou blinked, idly wondering if that strange bit of trivia he wouldn't have connected otherwise to his current situation was indeed related to this so-called Grail War brewing in the city according to Caster-san. He had a habit of checking on the newspapers and television news for the latest crimes, and often would give serious think to the idea of joining the police after graduating, so the case was not one he hadn't heard of before, and yet he had forgotten about it of late, what with this Heaven's Feel nonsense and all of that. Then again, what could a war between magi have to do with the kidnapping of mundane young women? Surely they were coincidential events, and yet that hadn't stopped bothering him by the time of lunch, when, much to his surprise, he and Issei were approached by a group of elementary school girls.

"Good day, Oniisan," smiled the girl at the head of the small part, a dark haired and confident little lady with glasses. "Do you remember us?"

"Oh, um, actually, yes, I do!" Shirou said, snapping his fingers. "You're Miyu-chan's classmates, aren't you?"

"Bingo!" the girl grinned, giving him a thumbs up. "I'm the Class Rep, Kurihara Suzuka, and these are Moriyama Nanaki..."

"How do you do, Shirou Oniisama?" angelically smiled a grade schooler with pink hair.

"... Katsura Mimi..."

"S-Sorry to be a bother!" stuttered a girl with black hair and totally and cutely unremarkable, bowing to Shirou and Issei.

"... Gakumazawa Tatsuko..."

"Was it necessary for this many of us to come?" wondered a girl with sandy brown hair in two small buns, one at each side of her head, randomly eating a banana. "Looks like we're just cluttering the segment..."

"... Takamachi Nanoha..."

"Hello, Sempai!" waved the bright eyed red haired girl from the nearest cafeteria to Shirou's house. But hers is another story.

",.. aaaand Cocone Fatima Rosa!" finished Suzuka, as if feeling rather proud of herself for some reason, although also slightly out of breath. Issei flinched a bit, seeing she had just pulled a notebook out and was sketching him and Shirou as they sat together sharing lunch.

"..." said a tiny girl with dark skin, long black hair, and large eyes that were, in her own way, as inexpressive as Kuzuki-sensei's.

"You girls are here to ask about Miyu-chan, aren't you?" Shirou asked curiously. "Geez, I'm moved, but you didn't have to come this far from your classes... Don't have Miyu-chan's cellphone number?"

"Does she have a cellphone?" Tatsuko asked. "She never talks to any of us, so we thought-"

Suzuka forced a charming grin while discreetly elbowing Tatsuko in the stomach, the blonde reacting with an exaggerated yelp and doubling over. "Ah ha ha, what Tatchan means, is, Miyu-chan is a very private girl, but we still care about her dearly, and since we had a couple free hours since Tiger-sensei didn't come either."

"Don't call her-!" Shirou began to panic, looking around in all directions before remembering and straightening with an embarrassed sigh. "Ohhh, I mean, no, that's no coincidence, both of them had to stay home today sorting out a few issues, but they should be back tomorrow, so please don't worry."

"Are you sure Sensei won't need taking care of those issues for a couple more-" Tatsuko began before being double elbowed, this time, by a stiff Mimi and Nanaki.

"What are those 'issues' about, Oniisan?" asked Suzuka with a scary little glint in her glasses, smiling kittenishly. "As Miyu-chan's Iinchou, it's my duty to learn of anything that might be troubling my dear classmates and-"

"Getting gossip material," Tatsuko piped in.

"Quiet, you," Suzuka groaned out a corner of her mouth.

Issei sighed, taking a longing sip from his carton of juice. "Children nowadays, honestly..."

"Ah, you are that Stick In the Mud Sempai who's always talking like an old man everyone is always talking about?" Tatsuko asked, managing to sound terribly innocent for someone so impertinent.

Issei, ever the patient, really had to grind his teeth together this time. "No, that's Suzushiro Haruka!"

"And that's another reference most casuals just won't get..." Tatsuko said in faint dismay, shaking her head.

Shirou closed his eyes and rubbed them with a hand, shaking his head to himself. _Please sort things out so you can come back tomorrow, Miyu-chan_ , he thought. _Although I'm sure it can't be easy for you, if this is your routine... I'll never complain about Shinji again..._

But alas, destiny often breaks our best forged resolutions.

* * *

Once again, Shirou was walking the way back home alone, because he thought lightning couldn't strike twice in the same spot, the poor fool. Shinji had been, as expected, reluctant to tell Issei and him about his absence the day prior, but frankly that was the least concern in Shirou's mind now that he'd confirmed Sakura-san was okay from Shinji.

However, just as he passed the same site where he'd found Caster the night before, he heard another femine voice quietly speaking from the shadows.

"I knew I had felt something," this voice said, cold and barren.

Shirou stopped, slumping his shoulders down, and muttered to himself. "Aw, dangabit."

Someone was crossing the street towards him, stepping out of the darkness but mostly looking like she was part of that darkness and flowing out of it, smoothly, with a large black and red sword held in her hands, covered by large metal gauntlets. She was petite and short, with a fair and rather pale face, and piercing, ghostly yellow eyes staring mercilessly at Shirou. Her hair was golden blonde, tied back into a bun, and she wore some manner of jet black armor covering her torso, with several blood red lines running down its lower half. Under that armor peeked a just as black dress skirt reaching down to her ankles, and the feet also seemed covered by armored couldn't help shivering briefly at that sight, but he also found her oddly familiar, in the same way one could remember an once vivid dream from long ago, faded away by time.

"Young man," the woman said sternly, before Shirou could ask anything, "what is that on your hand?"

"My hand?" Shirou hefted the right hand she was pointing at with her leveling blade. "Well, this is nothing but my schoolbag, if you want it, I have no- Ohhhh," he said, looking at the marks that had, at some point of his way here, appeared all over the red rash, resembling those Miyu-chan had gained. Only these ones had the shape of a stylish vertically placed dagger with two pointy ends, one pointing downwards, the other the opposite way. "You know, you might find this funny, this wasn't here a hour ago..."

The young woman huffed, narrowing her eyes at him. "Summon your Servant, now."

"I have no Servant," Shirou said. "You have nothing to gain from hurting me."

"Summon your Servant," she insisted, putting more pressure into her tone. "Or else die right here, skewered like a dog."

"I'd rather not..." Shirou said, taking a step back while turning around, so he could run the rest of the way back home.

"This," she said, baring her clenched white teeth at him, "is not about what you wish."

She brought the sword down, making a huge chunk of the pavement between them blow upwards, and Shirou gasped and ran the fastest he'd ever ran.

Meanwhile, at Maison Emiya, Taiga frowned, staring from the couch as Caster set several small wards all around the inside half of the front door. The strange woman seemed to be in much better spirits and health since Miyu had contracted with her, growing stronger and more lively the more time that passed, and Taiga had been keeping a keen eye on Miyu, who now sat by her side, just to make sure she wasn't weakening in turn.

"Are you _really_ sure those things will keep others like you away?" Taiga asked the hooded woman. "Like, foolproof guarantee, no-refunds sure? What if it's Samson or Yamato no Orochi or Chuck Norris coming down for your head, will that keep them out too?"

"No security measure is ever absolute," Caster patiently explained, even though her tone made it clear she was no fonder of Taiga than Taiga was of her, "but this is Magic from the Age of Gods, the only Servants who could trespass into this home now would be those with an extremely high Magic Resistance..."

Then Shirou violently pushed the door open from the outside and slammed it closed behind him, extremely pale and sweaty and supporting his back onto it, panting roughly and wheezing. Miyu blinked, suddenly concerned, "Oniichan?"

"However, as you can see," an unfazed Caster told, "you and your children will be perfectly able to keep coming and going with no problems whatsoever. You, and-"

The door was blown from the outside, to the screams of terror of the hugging Taiga and Miyu, and Shirou was slammed down onto the floor, smashed by said falling door and the armored foot now pressing on it, as the woman in black who had chased him all the way here hissed viciously, pointing the sword down at him. "My patience grows thin...!"

"- and this, you will see, is one such Servant with High Magic Resistance," Caster said with a resigned sigh, reaching into one sleeve and pulling a large dagger curved in zig-zag out. "Rest assured, however, this-"

Absently and without even looking at her, the woman in black punched her in the face and sent her flying against a wall. Miyu cried and tried to reach out for her, but Taiga tightened her grip on her and pulled back with her, towards the next room, while still looking at the felled Shirou with panic-stricken eyes.

"What will you answer be now?" the hostile intruder questioned, pressing the blade's tip against Shirou's temple.

"Mine is, get out of _**my**_ home!" Caster shouted, leaping back to her feet and moving her hands around quickly. Immediately, dozens of purple blasts of magical energy flew from all around her and zoomed away, converging on the pale woman, who had to take her eyes away from Shirou to block most of them and slash them aside with her sword. A few collided against her armor, but seemed to do little to no damage. However, by taking advantage of her distraction, Shirou grabbed onto the door, allowed the magic flow out of himself to reinforce its wooden surface, and then he roughly shoved it up, pushing the woman outside and on her back, off himself.

That, naturally, only stalled her back for a second, but in that time Shirou had already ran the rest of the distance to the dining room, shoving Miyu and Taiga aside as Caster also huddled protectively around the two women. "She's coming just for me," he hurriedly told them, "you just go to Akashi-sensei's and leave this to me, okay?!"

"What? But Shirou!" Taiga complained. "What the hell, she's gonna kill you, she-!"

She already was stomping back into the house, swinging her blade around. "I will slay you later, sorceress," she icily promised. "But a Knight respects an order of priorities, and I already resolved handling this first. Flee whilst you can and prepare thyself."

"Okay, bye," Caster shrugged, pulling back towards the front door in a way that left her feet hovering above the floor, and hugging the kicking and screaming Taiga and Miyu against herself, with surprising strenght for one so small and slim. She thusly dragged them out of the picture, flying them away with herself, and Shirou breathed marginally easier, grabbing one of Taiga's practice boken she always left everywhere, concentrating on Reinforcing it.

The pale woman raised a fine eyebrow slightly, as if noticing the magical increase in the weapon's charge. "An interesting technique," she noted.

"A gift from my father," Shirou said, backing further down the house, as she calmly walked after him, following him. "Hardly the one he left for me either!"

"Did he also teach you how to better get yourself corraled, Boy?" she asked, as he stepped out into the backyard, towards a tiny shed at the end of it. "A vexing legacy to leave for a child."

"You don't know half of it..." Shirou hissed, keeping the boken trained on her, and hoping Father had not been that delirious that night, one of his final ones, he had told him about the shed.

 _"Shirou... In the event you ever are confronted by something far beyond the human, look for help here..."_

Kiritsugu had locked himself there all through the night prior, and staggered out just to tell Shirou that, his hands on the boy's small shoulders. Next he had dropped onto his futon, struck by another bout of fever, one of the last ones he'd suffer. Until tonight, Shirou and Taiga had always believed he had been out of his mind that day, as his last weeks often had flowing in and out of hallucinatory states, but right now, if he was to survive this waking nightmare, Shirou had to trust his father had been in control of his senses then.

The shed was so small he had his back against the wall in no time, the woman's body blocking the only way in and out. "I hope that was worth it for you," she told him. "It certainly has not been worth _my_ time."

"I'm always sad to disappoint a lady," Shirou huffed, praying desperately in his mind. "Maybe, if you'd just come back tomorrow, I might have something better ready for you..."

She lifted her sword over her head. "Farewell," was all she replied, and swung down.

Shirou closed his eyes and swung back with the boken, in a hopeless last effort. He knew that much larger and sharper sword would just cleave right through it and him... and Fuji-nee's precious championship good luck sword would be ruined forever. Ah. That surely would make her so sad, wouldn't it...

But then, he felt something hard blocking the boken's upwards trajectory. He heard a muted clang of wood hitting metal, and a burst of light surging all around him. He reopened his eyes to find himself staring at the back of a person in white and red armor, whose back he had just hit. Both were being bathed by a wonderful explosion of blueish light, even as the knight's own sword, one as impressive looking as that of the intruder, but also in red and white, collided against the pale woman's, stopping her just short from having killed Shirou.

"Hey, you idiot!" a gruff voice told him. "What's your big idea, hitting me from behind?!"

"Ah... Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to!" a truly shocked Shirou lowered the splintered boken, staring powerlessly at the two figures standing their ground against each other.

 _"You..."_ seethed the woman in black, eyes narrow and glinting.

"Yes, Father, me!" came a raspy chuckle from the concealing horned helmet on the knight's head. "Finally, at long last, a chance to settle our old score! What a glorious night, for the opportunity to dance over your broken bones! So swears Saber, the Knight of Treachery!"

* * *

"The first thing you should know about me," growled the tall, almost sickeningly pale woman standing by Sister Caren Ortensia, "is I don't like the Church."

The shorter young woman beside her, who had long and wavy silver hair and beautiful, passive golden eyes, nodded only once at this. "Yes. I had to waste one Command Seal just to stop her from killing me upon summoning."

They stood at the middle of one of several large underground chambers in the basements of the Mahora Mary Magdalene Cathedral, facing the local congregation, headed by Sister Yolanda, a portly old woman of unspecified foreign origins, missing an eye covered by a black cloth patch, and who sat behind a wide black desk with her fingers folded together. Around said desk stood Sister Eda, chewing on her nicotine bubblegum nervously; Sister Yukariko, holding her white hands together and looking deeply concerned; the naturally tanned Sister Shakti, aloof and stoic as ever; Father Garterbelt, a scowling mountain of muscle of Afroamerican ethnicity; the diminutive Sister Cocone, almost unrecognizable from her ealier encounter with Shirou now she wore her habit, but just as inexpressive as back then; and the always twitchy and uneasy Sister Misora, barely more than a child herself. And of course, arms folded behind his wide back while nodding at Caren's words, Kotomine Kirei himself.

"I see," he gravelly said, meeting the unending vitriol burning into the Servant's eyes with his ever serene and unflinching stare. "However, as a Heroic Spirit you should have a wish for the Blessed Cup. Those interests would be greatly hampered should you strike at your Master, for a suitable replacement would be difficult to find."

"She and I have reached... an agreement of sorts," admitted the woman with hair that was so lightly blonde, it was nearly snow white. Her irises were tinted in a disturbing yellow, and her shapely, athetic body clad in form fitting black from toe to neck. Pieces of armor covered her shoulderpads and torso, but her legs were allowed more mobility by a long black skirt with tall slits at each side. In a hand she held a sharp standard with a black flag at its top; and a thin black sword hung from her waist. Her high heels made her look even taller than she was, towering over all other women present, including the fairly tall Eda and Shakti. "Be aware, however, I am Avenger, a spirit of resentment and hatred. Should it be left to my choice, I would be burning all of this damned building while your bodies are impaled upon your altars."

Sister Misora whimpered pitifully and shrunk back, trying to discreetly hide between the still apathetic Cocone. Avenger flashed a little, perfidious grin at them then, and Misora only lowered her head and whispered a desperate prayer.

"Should you be truly evil my body would be reacting badly to your presence, Avenger," Caren said, taking a moment to examine her own finger nails and lightly blow on them. "I won't restrain you from thinking otherwise, but please, as long as you act as my partner, restrain yourself from threatening my colleagues. You will make me look badly."

Avenger rolled her eyes in a frustrated fashion. "Of course that would be thing worrying you the most right now. Honestly, out of the whole lot of you, there's only one with enough common sense as to know how screwed up you are..."

"Th-Tha-Thank you very much, Ma'am," Misora nodded shakily.

"You're welcome," Avenger nodded, actually more politely than she would have liked to. She slammed the standard down on the floor, making Misora yelp, and shouted, raising an arm in a grandiose sweep, _"You fools! This time, I shall raise this flag, for this country's—-no, this world's fall into the abyss of war._ _Order has gone up in flames, and so much purpose has been lost. Your future vanished in but a second, without your even realizing."_

 _"Listen to my words, self appointed vermin gathered here, legion subhumans, unworthy of brave heroic spirits!_ _No matter if you were my sworn enemies or no matter how far your time period apart from mine, now you must entrust your backs to me!_ _My true name is Jeanne d'Arc. In the name of my despise and my rage, I shall stand as your battering ram!"_

 _"This struggle is one that has long endured through the sands of human history._ _But there is no need for concern, even as untold fateful encounters await you._ _Though your entire world of petty privileges and pampered lives has become the battlefield of the Holy Grail War, though that world has been brought to ruin, though countless formidable foes block our path, the end has still yet to be determined by anyone._ _Now, let us begin our fight, Master!"_

Shakti blinked. "What... What was that?!" she demanded. "Was it a declaration of war against us, or an intent to protect...?!"

Avenger smiled proudly, quite pleased with the effect she had just caused. "Base simpleton! Isn't it obvious? Both! Rest asured, should you stand in the middle of my campaigns you **will** be annihilated without a second thought but that of the joy I will derive from your deaths. But I can see you are not the Church of my age, and corrupt as they were you have fallen further into feeble degeneration. So, after all, even as it disgusts me, it also pleases me to join forces with this mockery of a church! Ah ha ha ha!" she took her head back and cackled, in a way that was so deranged it fell all the other way into being hard to be taken seriously by anyone but the cowering Misora. "Or at least," she said, regaining some posure and cold dignity, "that is what I tell myself to suppress the vomit at the idea of working for you. Shatter that perception at your own risk."

Sister Yolanda only shook her head faintly, smiling like a placid crocodile. "Quite an amusing twist. Nobody thought of this when we secured the relics of the Saint of Orleans..."

"What were you expecting for after sentencing me to death by fire?" Avenger huffed. "Did you seriously believe hailing me a saint afterwards would make up for that? The betrayal I should have been spared through life will not be placated by your hipocrisy. That noble fool was killed by you, and in her stead rose this presence of vengeance and most unfair retribution! Just be glad there are others who will pose more of a challenge to focus my rage onto, and that aiding the likes of you counts as a greater blasphemy than smiting you as I should!"

"Drama queen," Caren muttered disapprovingly under her breath.

"I heard that, Master!"

"Ooo-kay, then," Father Garterbelt said a moment of awkward silence from both parties. "I think the best will be if we give you and Sister Ortensia a room of your own away from us... I mean, from this most impartial church you cannot be affiliated with through the duration of your stint as contestants for Heaven's Feel..."

"Indeed," Kirei nodded, handing Caren a set of keys. "Just remember, you are not to involve third parties into the Grail War, but if you absolutely need to, make sure of disposing of them properly right afterwards."

"That's not the Christian way of doing things!" Shakti snapped.

Caren nodded at this man she would not call Father. "The War's secrecy will be kept no matter what Avenger's destructive tendencies may be. If she destroys, I will make sure she destroys everything and everyone in sight..."

"No, no, that's evil, though!" Shakti insisted. "You should be ripping yourself apart from the inside just by saying that!"

But the long dead heart of Kotomine Kirei felt right then, for the first time, something vaguely resembling of paternal pride.

* * *

Akashi Wataru and his daughter sat before their television watching a rather insipid talk show, which was now Yuuna was finding more entertainment from talking about what had happened during her day at the school, even if the man seemed oddly detached tonight.

"So I told her, 'No, Makie, I don't think you can do that without a license'. And then she just blinked and looked at me as if I were insane and asked me, 'But how am I supposed to get a license before Tuesday!?' Can you believe her?"

"Uh... huh," he said, not really paying any attention. "Well, you know how she is..."

"Dad, you aren't listening, are you?" Yuuna accused. "You've been going through your whole stock of token replies since this conversation started!"

Finally he looked at her. "That's not true, I'm still left with more than half..."

"Ha-ha, very funny!" she frowned, slapping him on a shoulder. "I know it hasn't been much of a conversation so far, but it can't be if you don't bother adding anything of your own! Come on, there must be something interesting about your day too!"

"No, for real, there hasn't," he insisted, shaking his head. "It's been a perfectly and completely-"

 _ **"Wataru-kun, they're going to kill Shirou!"**_ a frantic Taiga howled from their front door.

"- normal day just waiting to be horribly ruined beyond any repair," he sighed, sounding as if he had just been expecting for that, and moving for the door while Yuuna stood up as well, blinking in shock. The man opened the door and found Taiga bashing on the door, and now on his chest, with both fists, as Caster and a very pale and wide eyed Miyu stood behind her. "Okay, you can stop punching me now, exactly what kind of creature is attacking Shirou-kun?"

"It's a woman!" Taiga screamed, borderline hysterical. "A horrible woman, more than those who usually go after him, and-!"

"Sensei?" Yuuna blinked, coming to their side. "I'd never seen you like this before, what-"

Then something flew from the backyard next door and crashed through a wall and into their house, like a missile. Yuuna and Taiga shrieked, jumping into each other's arms, as Akashi-sensei spun around, fairly scared himself and whipping his magical wand out, instinctively shielding his child with his body.

A split moment later, another, darker figure bounced into their home through the same newly opened hole, landing with both feet on the chest of the armored person currently resting on their back before the television. This person brought a black sword on the other, who blocked with with a white and red sword of their own and a savage battle cry, and then the prone individual kicked their attacker off themselves and onto the dinner table, breaking it into so many pieces as the knight worked back to their feet, leveling their sword at the seething pale woman.

"I'll have your head yet, Father!" swore the horned knight. "Do you think this early advantage will suffice? I have only begun to fight!"

"I'm no father... of yours!" cried the woman, madly dashing ahead to attack with as much atavism as the knight defended themselves, both exchanging ferocious sword blows that created small explosions on each impact, and Yuuna's mind boogled at the fantastic and terrifying sight. At the same time, a spent, wheezing Shirou came running through the garden, much to the heaving relief of Miyu and Taiga.

"Oniisama!" the former said, hugging him.

 _ **"Shirou!"**_ Taiga bawled, latching onto him with a bone crushing embrace of her own, making the boy wince and whine. Seeing a large bleeding gash on his right cheek, she babbled, "Oh, ooh no, what happened to you, are you hurt...!"

"Fuji-nee, please, this is only a scratch!" he said, trying to push her off himself. "That, I think that knight there," he pointed at the brutal sword fight taking place inside the house, "I think I summoned him somehow, as a Servant of my own..."

"Oh, don't you tell me," Caster said coldly, taking a pair of fingers idly to her cheek.

"Your- Your WHAT?!" Yuuna screamed at Shirou. "You mean that weird guy wrecking our house is working for your hired man or something?! I always knew you were Yakuza, but why to take it out on us!? And who's that woman and why is she dressed like that and oh my God, that was Mom's favorite chair you BRUTES!" she whipped her head back inside.

Akashi-sensei cursed inside, pondering what to do even as both fighters smashed each other around his home. From what he had read on what little authorized testimonies there were on Heaven's Feel, mages were no challenge for a single Heroic Spirit, much less two at once. And he wasn't even as good as Seruhiko or Donet. If he intervened, not only he would blow his cover before Yuuna, but he'd get himself killed. So the only course of action for him was obvious. "Yuuna-chan!" he barked, grabbing her by an arm. "We're leaving!"

"Yes, you should step aside, in any instance," Caster calmly said, steeping past them and standing at the doorstep and aiming her hands towards the two combatants, both too engrossed in their feud to pay her attention. "Miyu's brother, would you object to the death of this Servant you have just met?"

"The death-" Shirou blinked for a moment, wide mouthed, and then growled, "Hey, he just saved my life!"

"I feared so," Caster sighed stoically, bothering to take a better aim focused only on the woman in black, and then whispering, _" **Machia Hecatia Graea."**_

A second after, a much bigger and more intense variation of the same spell she had just on the intruder before flew from her hands, making Yuuna yell and bombarding the pale woman with relentless precision, rattling her with beam after beam of purple light which briefly brought her to her knees, as she was caught unaware from a side this time. The knight with horns chuckled grisly, taking advantage of the moment to swing their blade down, cutting a bloody slash through the woman's right shoulder and carving their way towards her collar; only the heavy protection the female's armor provided around her neck saved her from being beheaded.

"I triumph tonight, Father!" joyfully proclaimed the knight, with manic glee showing through the eyeholes of their helm. "Your head will be my trophy! And so we see who is the best qualified to-!"

"You always have talked far too much!" the pale woman roared, kicking the knight back squarely on the chest, bashing them against a wall. Then she sneered at the group gathered at the doorstep, clutched onto her bleeding wound with a hand, and took impulse to leap out through the ceiling, disappearing back into the night with a single bound.

"... it is done," Caster sighed, smiling and, still weakened, faltering into the arms of a blinking Professor, who caught her as best as he could before a bewildered Yuuna.

"Excuse me, Dad?! An acquaitance of yours?!" the girl asked.

"Is this really the time to ask that, Yuuna?!" her father chided her, worriedly taking the woman's pulse as she just kept on smiling sweetly at him. Shirou, in the meanwhile, was rushing past them and into the wreckage of the house despite Taiga and Miyu's gasping attempts to hold him back.

He cautiously approached the figure in armor, who now stood perfectly still, staring up at the new ventilation the Akashis had in their ceiling. "Hey, hey... You! Saber!" he gulped.

The knight turned their head at him. "What is it?"

"Are you... alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Are you stupid, or what? Do you think me so weak?" the knight curtly asked. "Weren't you the one who summoned me?"

"Um, yeah, I was... I think?"

 _ **"You think?!"**_

Shirou scratched himself on the head. "I mean, I figure it must've been me, but I have no idea how could I, unless that's what Kiritsugu meant..."

"You aren't very intelligent, are you, boy?" the knight huffed, breathing heavily despite their bravado. They took a hand to the helm and pulled it off with a groan, breathing more easily as they shook a headful of golden hair from one side to the other. Shirou pulled back, bewildered. Other than being far less pale, with green eyes, Saber's face was identical to that of the woman they... _**she**_ had just fought off.

Saber noticed his dumbfounded expression, and scowled. "You're going to say it, aren't you."

"You are..." Shirou said, "... a girl!"

Saber gritted her teeth together in loathsome sheer rage, then smiled very beautifully.

"You said it!" she said.

And she slammed a fist directly on the middle of Shirou's face.

* * *

 **End of Chapter One.**


	3. War and Remembrance

"I'm scared," said the little girl sitting before the huge window of Celenike's hotel room, looking out into the night and hugging her teddy bear.

"Don't be," her Master grumbled, sitting at a nearby table in her underwear and a loose shirt, eyes reddened behind the glasses and gray hair flowing loose in all directions. Her attention was fixed on the latest of several books brought from Europe, still attempt to find a way to just summon a Servant after disposing that you originally summoned. So far she had found none, much to her chagrin. "That's the last thing a Heroic Spirit should be."

"Heroic Spirit..." the slim and petite girl with long light blonde hair, in a puffy and long black dress, mused weakly, staring into Academy City. Several small ribbons decorated said dress, most of them also black, but a few were orange. "I don't even know why I am a Heroic Spirit..."

"You can't even get that right," Celenike grouched, flipping the pages and shaking her head. "I should have you tortured and flayed over this, if only this tower had a dungeon. Filthy foreigners don't know the basics when it comes to buildings..."

The little girl nodded absently. "Torture is, indeed, a key part of a society's advancements. Otherwise, how are you supposed to purge the heretics out? That is what Father always said..."

"Your father should have met mine," Celenike mused, thinking maybe there was a reason why this Servant had been drawn to her, annoying as the idea was. "What is your connection to a bottle from Charlemagne's treasure anyway? How do you even relate to that at all?"

"I am Foreigner," the Servant said.

"Yes, of course I know that, you stupid!" Celenike growled. "That's not what I-"

"I am something that sweeps into reality when I shouldn't exist," Foreigner quietly continued as if Celenike had not objected. "I disobey the rules of your universe, moved by forces beyond my understanding and yours. I am an accident, but also an inevitability, whether we like it or not."

"You're all of that, and yet you're scared?" Celenike critically questioned.

"Things like her exist," Foreigner pondered softly, pointing into the skyline. "I am to be feared, but so is she."

Celenike rushed to her side, almost stumbling on her own bare feet more than once. "W-What?!" she gasped, staring wildly in the direction Foreigner was pointing at. "An encounter, this quickly...?!"

"It doesn't look like she comes for us," Foreigner noted passively, her large blue eyes trailing the black speck as she bounced from one building to the next, disappearing back into the folds of the night just as soon. "No, she didn't. Well, I am not something a Servant would expect to find in a War, so that makes sense, I suppose..."

"Did she have a sword?" Celenike asked, taking her glasses and polishing them frantically with her shirt. "That means she's Saber, right?! Darnic said, in a Heaven's Feel, the priority should be taking the Saber out first, can you even move like that?!"

"I don't believe I could," Foreigner pensively said, "but I believe I can purge her out some other way."

 _"You believe?!"_

Foreigner glanced back at her outraged Master, whose scrunched up face looked almost comical. "One way or another, Witches like her will burn at the stake, Master. That, I promise in the name of the faith."

* * *

 _Fate Stay Night_ , _Fate Prototype_ , _Fate Zero_ , _Fate Hollow Ataraxia_ , _Fate EXTRA_ , _Fate Extella_ , _Fate Apocrypha_ , _Fate Strange/Fake_ , _Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya_ , _Fate Requiem, Fate School Life_ and _Fate Grand Order_ all are the creation and intellectual property of Nasu Kinoko and Type-Moon.

All other featured and mentioned franchises belong to their respective copyright owners.

With Special Thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, Darkenning, Kamenhero25, Moczo, Ol'Vesper, GhostXavier and The Infamous Man for the inspiration.

* * *

 **Lovely Magical Collectible Waifu Game of Death!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two.**

* * *

 **War and Remembrance.**

* * *

The black Saber finally stopped by an abandoned factory by the sea, where she had set her most recent Camelot. A ruined wreck left alone for fifteen years now, near the Honnouji District. It stunk of filth and decay, but she paid it no mind as she moved towards the Director's office, plopping down on the executive chair she had taken as her throne. She closed her eyes and relaxed, allowing her connection with the ever lasting Shadow heal her slowly, filling her with energy to fuel her hatred and unrest.

 _ **"Mordred..."**_ she hissed to herself, balling a fist up.

Another black presence made itself known in the office without a sound or shifting of the air, and Saber opened her eyes to look at it. A muscular, bald man of dark skin wearing nothing but a ragged black cloth tied around his waist and a starkly white bone mask concealing his features, giving him the appearance of a grinning skull. All over his naked torso there were several veiny red lines, much like those that ornated Saber's clothes. "What do you want, Assassin?" Saber flatly asked him.

"The Grail is pleased you woke another Servant up, but you should have disposed of two Heroic Souls tonight, and one yesterday. Yet all of them still draw breath. This is very unlike you, King of Knights," the man said, in hushed, dangerous tones.

"It is difficult to perform adequately when outside factors keep involving themselves into our battles," Saber said, leaning ahead slightly and frowning at Assassin. "Otherwise, I would have razed them and all that stood around them already."

"Patience," the shadowy murderer said. "Once the time is ripe, we will unleash a cornucopia of dark enlightment openly over the whole world, you know that. Until then, however, its will is clear. We need to gather more soldiers. The Fourth Heaven's Feel was not enough."

"I know," Saber nodded. "The one who escaped the Grail will be there, as well."

"He cannot be assimilated, so he will need to be disposed of," Assassin ruminated. "We figure you will wish for that honor go to you."

"I will behead anyone who claims otherwise," Saber coldly said.

"Lancer and Caster will not move against such wishes, yet Rider and Berserker might," Assassin reminded her.

"Let us compete fairly over the honor to put that dog down, then," Saber stated firmly. "I believe you have more than enough to report by now, Assassin. Leave, or your self will have one face less to make use of."

The man bowed and vanished in the ether. "Your Majesty."

Saber relaxed back onto the chair, the unholy healing complete. Recently, she had woken up from a long slumber a changed warrior, and while she had known nothing but unrest ever since, in a way, she also felt much better than ever.

But nowhere as good, she promised herself, as she would feel once the bastard was put to her blade.

* * *

"I can't believe you did this to me," Yuuna told her father, angrily looking away from him. "Hiding this from me my whole life! Even the neighbors knew! And now, because of that, our house is ruined!"

"One thing didn't have anything to do with the other!" Professor Akashi protested. "And there was no harm on telling them, they already knew about magic!"

Yuuna leveled a glare on Shirou, on whose wounded cheek Miyu was applying some desinfectant. "And you knew about this, from...?"

"Our father," the boy sitting across her said.

Yuuna turned hand to the male teacher. "See? See?! Kiritsugu-san at least could be bothered to share that kind of info, but you're just the worst!"

Saber shook her head and sighed sympathetically. "I'm sorry about you, girl. Parents are always screwing our lives up, aren't they..."

"You were the one actively doing the wrecking, though!" Yuuna reminded her.

They sat around the Emiyas' dinner table now, trying to sort out what had just happened, and Taiga decided it was time to steer this conversation back that way, "Yuuna-chan, I can understand why you'd feel that way, but there are more important things to mind right now! Like, who was that woman and why attacked Shirou, and why-!"

"I think," Shirou said, "she could feel I was going to become a 'Master' before I did. She noticed these... seals even before I could," he went on, holding his marked hand up, "and she seemed eager for me to summon a Servant."

"But, does that really make any sense?" Professor Akashi asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to eliminate a Master without a Servant before they can do a summon and join the fight?"

"No, Wataru-sama, the whole point of this bloody exercise is to feed the Holy Cup with the esence of felled Heroic Spirits," Caster explained. "Defeating a Master before they can fulfill their role doesn't take us any closer to victory. Once the Servant is summoned, however, cutting the Master down is one of the easiest and quickest ways to prevail. Physically, the Master is a Servant's weak spot, and without Masters, we cannot last long in this world. Only a miracle saved me from disappearing after I lost mine."

"Yes, well, about that," Saber glanced harshly at her, past Shirou and Miyu, "Do you know what would be a real tactical mistake, Caster? To let you live now I have you right before myself. Master! Move aside so I may cut this witch down!"

"I'm not doing such a thing!" Shirou said.

Saber growled at him. "How dense are you anyway? Don't you still understand the purpose of our presence here?"

"It seems Young Mister Emiya is a pacifist, fortunately for you," Caster told her with noticeable sang froid. "Don't you know how idealists can get over their worldviews...?"

Saber sneered. "Feh! Are you really this stupid, boy? Maybe I should cut my losses with you and-!"

Shirou frowned, tightening his fist with the Command Seals. "Don't even think about it."

"Oh, come on!" Saber complained. "What use is there for the continued existence of a witch? Trust me on this subject, my mother was literally one as well, and she never brought anything but grief to anyone!"

"I think I'm starting to understand a lot of things about you already," Yuuna deadpanned. "Anyway, do you even have a real name beyond 'Saber'? And who was that woman, you still haven't told us that!"

"That was my father," Saber said very seriously.

"Well, yeah, you know, women aren't usually fathers to anyone!" Yuuna insisted. "Don't take us all for morons, will you?!"

"Yuuna, please mind your manners around the warrior from the distant past," her father chided her.

"Father is not..." Saber began, then rubbed her chin, frowning. "It is difficult to express with words. Father is a King, first and foremost. His gender doesn't matter and neither does mine, what truly counts is that his role is that of the King, and mine is that of the King To Be. So no, you shouldn't refer to either of us as women!"

"I think we should make this clear before anything else," Taiga said. "You aren't really a futanari, are you?"

Miyu blinked. "What is that?"

"N-Nothing that has anything to do with this discussion at all!" Professor Akashi stammered.

"I don't have a penis," Saber said, after taking a moment to sort out the information the Grail had left her on the Japanese language, "but this man is correct, what does that have to do with being a man?"

"Don't say the word 'Penis' before a child!" Taiga blushed, covering Miyu's ears with her hands.

"You were the one who brought the Futanari topic along, though..." Shirou muttered.

"Anyway!" Saber angrily pointed at Caster. "I still think we should slay the witch! Is the idea we will fight together until all other Servants are killed? I have no need for a Caster to have my back! I am a Saber, the strongest Class, and among Sabers I reign supreme!"

"I seem to remember your father had you pushed against the wall and about to stab you until I saved you," Caster icily told her.

Saber smiled proudly. "I was just luring him into a sense of false security and then finish him off! If anything, Father only escaped because of your interference!"

"What did this father do to you that was so awful you'd try to kill her... him?" Yuuna corrected herself. "Did he lie to you about your origins and the whole world through all of your life?"

"Maybe you should start sleeping at the student dorms from now on, just in case," Akashi-sensei quietly said, shuddering just the slightest bit.

"He denied me my birthright, my fair access to the throne, despite the fact I was more qualified!" Saber growled. "He was envious of my growing popularity, because I would be more in tune with the common man! I wouldn't place tyrannical laws like forcing countrymen to bathe once a day, when once a month is perfectly fine!"

Everyone around the table but Yuuna grimaced in disgust and pulled away from the oblivious Saber, too absorbed in her own thoughts, as much as possible.

"Ah," Yuuna blandly said, "you guys were Welsh, right?"

Saber shrugged. "Out of all the races in your modern world, the Welsh would be the closest ones to our people, yes. How did you guess?"

Yuuna half-smiled. "You remind me of a teacher of mine, who is Welsh..." Then she looked at her father. "Is Negi-kun a mage too?"

"What would ever give you that impression, for God's sake?!" he shot back.

"Ah, gotcha," Yuuna said dryly. "That explains the sneezes and why Asuna puts up with him all of a sudden, I suppose..."

"Um, yeah, about that," Shirou said, "it's better if you don't comment on this to anyone, Yuuna-chan. Mages who have their secrets exposed tend to be punished by being transformed into small animals, and Magi who are found out get Sealing Designations placed on them."

"What is a Sealing Designation?" Yuuna asked.

"It's basically an order for an execution..." Miyu said, making a swift motion of slashing over her own throat with a finger.

"Oooohhhhh... Wait, and what's the difference between Mages and Magi, then? That some are more bloodthirsty than others?"

"... you could pretty much say that, yes," Taiga shrugged.

Yuuna looked at her father again. "Are we mages, or 'magi'?"

" _ **I**_ am a mage," the man replied between gritted teeth. "You are neither, because that is not the best for you, and that's it!"

"Oh, so now you have the right to map my whole life out just because you're my father...!"

"Hey, girl," Saber told her. "How would you like to be my Master instead of this dumbass? You are a mage, and from the way you look at her, I can tell you don't like the witch either..."

"She's not a mage!" Akashi-sensei insisted.

"I am a witch, but this is the last time I will tolerate you calling me that, Saber!" Caster warned.

"I am seriously considering it!" Yuuna told Saber, who grinned and nodded.

"Okay," Miyu quietly said, picking a wooden paddle with 'Taiga Pacifier' written on it from under the table and holding it up. "I see I'm having to get serious about imposing peace here..."

* * *

"How did she even do that?" Saber asked Caster, early next morning, and rubbing the still lingering bump on the back of her head.

"Why must you keep asking that?" Caster said, stoically enduring her own bump instead. "I told you already, I don't know! My mana reserves were still low, that might have been a factor, and you might be fairly weak for a Saber after all! Maybe if you had been kept your helm on you wouldn't be crying about your boo-boo now, child!"

"Shirou, let me kill her!" Saber turned to her Master, only to see him already leaving the breakfast table, while Taiga mumbled from the kitchen, washing the dishes under Miyu's watchful eye, the little girl softly patting herself on a handpalm with the paddle. "Eh? Where are you going, Shirou?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's a school day!" the young man said, securing his schoolbag around his shoulder. "We can't keep on missing classes like this, Miyu raised many questions yesterday just from one absence..."

"I feel I must object," Caster said. "For the duration of the Grail War, you will be targets wherever you go. Masters are less likely to act under broad daylight, but there are ways to perform murders in the open without ever bringing attention to yourself, especially for Masters of the Assassin class. A Master should always remain under their Servant's protection."

"Well, yeah," Shirou uneasily scratched the back of his neck, "that would be a problem, you guys would stick out a lot in a classroom, especially one for elementary schoolers or boys..."

"That's no problem at all," Saber disagreed, "we can take spiritual forms that make us invisible to everyone around you. That way, we can follow you everywhere, and even better, we spend far less mana that way. Well, _**I**_ can, at least, I don't know about others..."

"Why couldn't I do such a simple thing?!" asked Caster, exhasperated. "What kind of third rate Servant couldn't assume an astral form? See?" she quickly disappeared altogether, making Shirou blink in a quick wildtake.

Saber sighed with a smile. "Now, if only she could be like that all the time..."

"Well, that looks... practical, yeah," Shirou said, scratching himself on a cheek. "I guess there's no problem with you coming along, as soon as you behave yourselves..."

"Hey!" an offended Saber said. "Are you thinking of me as some kind of stupid barbarian? I was a General of men, a field commander and even an excellent burocrat! Of course I know how to carry myself into society proper!"

"Well, that at the very least puts you above Taiga-san, not like that's a very tall bar to clear," Caster said, reappearing by her side.

"I hear that!" Taiga growled, peeking her head out the kitchen with hate injected eyes.

The ride to Mahora in the Akashis' car was far more uneasy than usual that morning, too.

"I'm kinda shocked you could leave those two behind," Yuuna grumbled, keeping her arms folded and her sight fixed ahead.

"Oh, no, actually, they're right with us here," Shirou said from the back seat. "They just happen to be invisible, since they are in their... ghost forms, or something like that. They argued we could be in risk if we go to the school without them, and I guess they do have a point of sorts..."

"Of sorts?!" Saber said, suddenly materializing between him and Miyu, armor and all, and thus pushing them aside just from coming into physical being so abruptly. "Of course I had a perfectly valid point, were you just humoring me, worm?!"

Yuuna hummed, tapping her feet down. "Maybe you'll just be in even more danger by bringing them along?"

"Does that mean you aren't interested on being my Master anymore?" Saber asked.

"That depends. Will you be coming over and helping to clean the mess you made?"

"... I'll pass."

Professor Akashi sighed while Saber vanished again, and Taiga, Shirou and Miyu breathed easier in the back seat. "Listen, jokes aside, you **are** sort of placing the whole student body in danger by attending classes during a Heaven's Feel. I've been researching, and I'd advice you to go to the Mahora Mary Magdalene today. The members of the local Church with connections to the world of magic run it, and one of them should work as the arbiter for this War, much like it happened in all Fuyuki Wars."

"Did they prevent a whole city from going up in flames last time?" Yuuna asked. "Because if not, I think I'd kinda question their efficience at the job."

"That... That doesn't mean they aren't the only alternative for a Master registering into this whole mess, regardless," her father said. "The Church is supposed to be an impartial ground where no other Masters can ever attack you. Keep it in mind, okay? I'm doing you a favor for not reporting you to the Headmaster yet, even though I really shouldn't be..."

"The Church, huh..." Shirou pondered, looking out the back window. "Sure, if that's the procedure we're supposed to follow, we'll go after classes. Thank you, Sensei..."

Along their way, he saw Tohsaka Rin walking down the sidewalk, towards her bus stop, and once again he blushed, looking at her as long as he could, before feeling a weird, intense glare fixed on him from somewhere, causing him to snap back into attention, Briefly, he thought he could listen to Saber's taunting chuckle in his mind, and this really soured his humor for the rest of the trip.

His mood hadn't improved that much by mid-day, when, after having lunch, he headed over to the boys' restrooms to take a leak. While standing in the stall just letting it flow, he suddenly felt the air warping and shifting behind him. While he froze in place and paled, the shadow cast by Saber's armor fell on him, while she asked, curiously, "Who was that girl back there, this morning? Your girlfriend?"

 _"KYAAAAAAAA!"_

Shirou was still angrily wiping his hands off with a piece of toilet paper as they sat behind the building, away from the youngsters gathered at the front eating lunch and chattering. Saber was still in full armor, which actually was for the best since they could pass her off for a cosplayer asking for directions to one of Mahora's several art studios if they were spotted. "Didn't they have the concept of privacy in your time?!" Shirou barked. "Why did you have to follow all the way into the men's bathrooms?!"

"I'm a man," Saber said.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean you've gotta look over my shoulder while I'm... I'm... doing that!" he blushed like a tomato. "You were lucky there wasn't anyone else around!"

"Idiot!" she said. "If there'd been any witnesses, why would I show myself up? And why are you such a crying girl about that?! I'm just a Servant, and you're just a Master, don't start getting weird ideas into your head!"

"Weird ideas? Let me tell you about weird ideas! Sneaking behind someone else in the bathroom, that's a weird idea!"

Saber rolled her eyes within the helmet. "Alright, alright, so if some Servant gets the drop on you in the can, I'll respectfully stand outside and wait until you're both done with the massacre. I bet Yuuna won't make such a fuss about these things, even if she's a girl and I'm a man."

Shirou ran a hand down his face. "What did I do to deserve this?" After a moment of pause and frowning, he changed the subject altogether. "Saber? Your father, what kind of Servant is she, that is, him?"

"Well, to match me in swordmanship he'd have to be a Saber," she answered. "He wasn't wielding his lance of choice, so he was no Lancer, or riding his stallion, so he was no Rider. He never mastered sorcery, so he couldn't be a Caster, and when he did Assassin-like things he would wear a ridiculous costume covering his ahoge, thinking we wouldn't recognize him as he punished those who acted beyond our legal reach. He might be a Berserker, but even through his rage, he seemed lucid enough to me, just... a tad more vitriolic than he used to be. And without the ahoge, now that I think about it!"

"Can there be two Sabers at the same time in a Grail War?" Shirou asked now.

"It doesn't seem to be the norm," Saber admitted, "But what does that matter? Even if all the Knights of our order stood as Sabers against us at once, I would still plow through them with ease! I have been reborn as the greatest genius swordsman! Don't worry, Master, I will guide us to victory, you just have to trust on my capacities!"

"Okay, I'm going to trust your capacity to stay out of the men's bathroom from now on," Shirou nodded.

"What do you want me to use, then? The ladies'? That... That would be uncomfortable..."

* * *

"There's something we really should discuss. Right now," Kasuga Misora said, shortly after the bells marking the end of today's classes had rang, and grabbing her young, short, English and homeroom teacher by an arm before he could leave the classroom.

Seeing a scared intensity in Misora's normally carefree and happy-go-lucky eyes, a look he hadn't seen from her even since the conflict with Evangeline, the red haired boy in the dark green suit only could nod. "Ah... hah?"

It all had started with Evangeline, Misora's classmate for two years now, who happened to share a name with a certain infamous vampire of legend. Except Evangeline had turned out being said vampire herself, sealed within Mahora fifteen years ago, shortly after the Great Disaster, by a no less well known mage, the Thousand Master. When this mage's only son arrived to Mahora Academy applying for a teaching job, some wise mind had seen fit assigning him to Female Junior High Class 2-A, where Evangeline dwelt long ruminating bitter revenge, and before a week had passed, Evangeline had attacked him.

Aided by his socially unpopular roommates Hasegawa Chisame and Hakase Satomi, social butterfly and academic queen bee Kakizaki Misa, and Misora herself, Negi had successfully fought Evangeline into somewhat peaceful coexistence from that point on... somehow. Shortly after, the athletic Kagurazaka Asuna, self professed child hater and abysmal student, and Shiina Sakurako, one of Misa's best friends and roommates with a crush on Hakase, had joined their ranks by one twist of fate after another, along Negi's childhood familiar, Chamo, the talking, chain smoking ermine. All of them, plus Misora's tiny fellow apprentice Cocone, were gathered that afternoon at Chisame and Hakase's room in the commonal dormitories, listening to Misora's retelling of yesterday's encounter at the Church.

"So Jeanne D'Arc is a maniacal edgelord with a murderous streak and has been sent here to fight in a secret war for the Church, despite hating your guts now," the bespectacled Chisame, whose long light brown hair was always neatly kept back into a ponytail, summed the gist up with her habitual dry, bitter snark, better fitting a woman twenty years her senior. "And this war is the same that reduced Fuyuki to ashes ten years back. Okay! I think the answer you owe us now, after ruining an otherwise quiet and nice day of relative normalcy is, why the hell here?! Couldn't you guys take that, I don't know, somewhere far into the desert where it couldn't hurt anyone?!"

Negi Springfield, boy genius, hummed to himself, stroking his smooth, baby-like little chin with his thumb. "Well... It happens I read a few books on these Grail Wars, originally labeled as the Heaven's Feel ritual, while I was in Merdiana. Basically, they are set up to reach the unleashing of a great power source contained within a blessed vessel, named after the Grail that held Christ's blood. For this, a series of magi competing for the honor of triggering this man made Grail summon incarnated Heroic Spirits, noble souls from the past that will fight each other until only one remains. The rest of the Servants will power the Grail up and allow its completion, but those events must be held on grounds rich with magical energy and strong leylines. After Fuyuki City, Mahora is the Japanese sector with the best leylines, so it makes technical sense the ritual has been moved here, but..."

"Grail Wars are supposed to happen only every sixty years, not even Sis Yolanda knows why one would start again so soon!" Misora completed the idea for him, gesturing wildly towards the other girls (but Cocone, who sat on her lap indifferently eating from a bag of potato chips) and the gulping white ermine. "These are bad news, I tell you! Worse, I heard that weird scary girl commanding that turbo freak of nature is moving into these dorms!"

"Is she the right age to be studying with us?" the gorgeous, purple haired Misa, easily the most conventionally attractive girl in the room, asked. "Because I'm starting to see a pattern, in that they throw every weird and dangerous student too young looking for 3-F on us..."

Chisame, for once, had to nod in complete agreement with Misa's words.

"No... I'd say she's two years or so older than us, even if she's a bit short," Misora hesitated. "Anyway, what are we going to do, Negi-kun?! Say something!"

The boy blinked. "What could we possibly do about it? There's no real way to evacuate the school without raising too many questions all across the city and beyond, and Magi are usually even more careful than us to involve civilians into their affairs, since the penalty for them is much steeper than it is for us. I'm afraid all we can do is being extra careful over the next pair of weeks and keep a watchful eye on our friends. We really can't do anything else without Servants of our own."

"Do we need to remind you this is the same conflict that involved sightings of giant sea monsters and immolation of a large urban area a mere decade ago, Sensei?" Satomi, who had indirect contacts with the world of magic herself even before Negi's arrival, pushed her glasses up her tiny perky nose. She was short and scrawny, with a very wide and shiny forehead and black hair made into childlike braids, betraying her sheer intellect.

Negi stiffled in place, awkwardly. "Y-Yeah, I know... but... the class trips are right around the corner, anyway, so whatever may happen, at least will happen while most of the students are away, thankfully..."

"Wow, this isn't much like you, Negi-kun," commented the quirky Sakurako, of round bright eyes and strawberry blonde hair. "I figured out you'd be trying to think of a way to get in so we could-"

"Don't encourage him when he's finally showing some common sense!" Chisame scolded her, and Asuna nodded firmly at that. "He's completely right this time, let's just leave those guys to settle their issues among themselves while we try and not to get ourselves killed in Kyoto, what's so hard to get about that?!"

Negi sniffled, lowering his gaze and trying to force a smile without crying like the child he was. "Of course, I'd have liked being a Master myself and making Father proud, but I suppose this isn't the kind of story that would present me with that chance..." He then held both of his hands before himself, looked at their clear and smooth backs without any redness whatsoever, and sighed melancholically.

"... only you would be sad because you missed on a chance to throw your life away, idiot," the red-haired Asuna told him. "Well, you and Despair Sensei, anyway."

Someone rang at the door, and everyone present perked up towards it.

"I think I know who that is," Negi sighed, standing up from the loose circle they had been sitting on onto the floor. He smoothed his white dress shirt down, walked for the door, and opened it, finding himself face to face with a kindly smiling very beautful girl, fair skinned and with long and flowing whiteish hair, wearing a very short black dress blouse, and stockings over pantyhose, but without a skirt. He was nearly propelled back by a violent fit of his own coughing, while Chamo dropped on his back nosebleeding and the girls just stared on very wide eyed, even Cocone. "Ahhhhh! S-Sorry, and, and you would be...!?"

"Good afternoon. Negi Springfield-sensei, am I correct?" she warmly asked, yet in a way that was also strangely ominous. "How do you do, I am Caren Ortensia, your new next door neighbor!"

* * *

"Good afternoon, and blessings be upon you," the woman in the solemn habit of a nun bowed for Shirou, Miyu and Taiga as they entered the otherwise lonely, almost cavernous Church of Mary Magdalene, stopping her apparent rounds, for she seemed to have been pacing around before their arrival. Only Taiga noticed the cigarette she had just snuffed out and discreetly tossed behind her back, and the teacher frowned deeply at this. "Sorry, but we won't be holding any further services today, you can come back tomorrow at-"

"Ahhhhh, no, no, sorry, we aren't here for that!" Shirou said. "We, um, we are here to speak with someone..."

"Oh, you are here for a confession!" the nun said, pushing her angular, faintly tinted glasses up her nose and nodding. "Yes, I think I've heard of you! Bar Jumping Boy! You must have a lot of sins to confess with that many girls after you, I'll go call Father Garterbelt immediately..."

"It isn't that either!" Taiga snapped. "Shirou's a perfectly decent boy who'd never involve himself into H-Game plots!"

Shirou blinked. "There are girls after me? Aren't you mistaking me for someone else?"

The nun cocked her head aside, blonde eyebrows arching strangely. "Hmmm, are you here to get the little girl baptized, then? She's a bit too old for that by now, but we can refer you to-"

Taiga facepalmed. "Who handles the exorcisms around here?!"

"Fuji-nee!" Shirou gasped. "You aren't thinking of-!"

"My poor children are being harassed by evil spirits trying to push them into deliquency and gratuitous bloodshedding!" Taiga vehemently told the sister, while Shirou and Miyu shivered, feeling their respective Servants hissing angrily behind them. "We need someone who can dispell those satanic poltergeists back to hell!"

The nun blinked and then grinned rather crookedly. "Ahhhh, you're here for that Grail War thing, aren't you." She spun back on her heels and gestured at them to follow her down a long hallway in the back. "For that, you want Father Kotomine. I'm Sister Eda, by the way," she said much more casually and relaxed now, openly pulling a cigarette and lighter out and starting to puff along like a chimney. "It's funny, I didn't think this would be an activity for the whole family. Are you their mother?"

"I'm their big sister youthful guardian!" Taiga growled. "With a black belt in martial arts and kendo!"

"That's nice, I'm an expert in guns and ammo," Eda flipped the implied threat off. "So are you two orphans, then?"

"No, actually, Oniisama is pretty much our mother," Miyu said, grabbing Shirou's hand tenderly, and despite everything, he couldn't help smiling.

Eda smiled as well, this time with less sarcasm and a bit more humanity, opening an old confession booth painted black and stepping into it, then standing at a side of it, gesturing for them to get in as well. "Aw, aren't you guys sweet, really. Well, get in here and you'll be seeing the Father in no time."

Taiga frowned. "I thought I had told you we didn't have any need to confess..."

"This one's a fake, Hon," Eda rolled her eyes at her, and then opened a small door at one side of the booth, revealing a lever she put her hand onto. The Emiya family blinked collectively and then finally stepped in. The nun pulled the lever down, the booth closed itself, and down it went, down a shaft, like an elevator. Eda puffed on her cigarette with the airs of a cosmopolitan woman, then grinned as the booth stopped at their destination. She led them back out, into what looked like a set of government offices, but filled with assorted nuns and priests doing paperwork and making and taking phone calls, as she guide them along another hallway surounded by more of such offices. "Welcome to the Heavenly Bureaucracy! Here we analyze and gauge all possible threats to the One True Faith and, in the event one menace merits it, dispatch Executioners to deal with them. Of course, nothing of what transpires here must be made of public knowledge. We work too hard in secret, but like the Good Word says, _When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing..."_

Taiga looked greatly concerned as they passed by an office where Father Garterbelt was berating two girls, a blonde in a mini red dress and indolently crossing her legs in a very scandalous way, and a pale skinned brunette in Goth Loli carelessly eating from a piece of chocolate cake she kept primly on a plate on her lap. "Uh-huh, are those two sisters of yours as well...?"

"No, they are Angels," Eda said. "The non-gigantic and monstruous variety, that is."

"Riiiiiight, and that's supposed to be an Angel too...?" Taiga pointed at another office, where Shakti was in serious discussion with a huge, muscular, red skinned man in a brown longcoat and pants, with a long tail attached to his lower back, and short, sawed off stumps on his forehead.

"No, that's an agent for the American Department of Extranormal Operations we sometimes work with, on Japan for non Heaven's Feel related issues," Eda matter of factly said. "Perhaps I should mention I'm from America as well?"

"Let me guess, actually CIA?" Taiga sarcastically asked.

"I used to be SHIELD, but they pay better here," Eda frankly answered, finally stopping before a desk marked 'Kotomine, Kirei', and knocking on it. "Rejoice, Father! You've got visits!"

"Make them pass, Eda," a deep, manly voice that had Taiga perking up visibly spoke from the inside, and so Eda pushed the door open, ushering the trio in before closing after them, staying outside herself and going off to see if Hellboy wanted to go for a few beers. Meanwhile, the holy man set the pile of documents he had been working on aside and stood up from behind his desk, folding his arms behind his back. "Greetings and peace be upon all of you. My name is Father Kotomine Kirei. Which of you is the Master coming to register for the Heaven's Feel?"

Miyu raised her hand. "It's my Oniisama and I. Taiga Oneesama is here just to look after us."

The man Taiga was staring at with eyes turned into large and pink hearts hummed, elegantly lifting a dark eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, members of a family partaking together in the same War is not unheard of. There is a precedent for it from the third iteration." He grabbed pen and paper and solemnly asked, "Let your names be recorded for posterity and the possible evaluation of damage."

"Uhhhhh... I'm Emiya Shirou, and this is my sister, Emiya Miyu, sir," the red haired young man said, wondering why this man sent so many signals of repulsion and alert down his spine if he was so well behaved and polite. "Pleased to meet you," he lied, reasonably well for Shirou's standards.

For a few moments, Kirei fell into a stunned silence, the likes of which he had not experienced in years.

"... Emiya?" he repeated like a shallow echo, at the end of said baffled silence.

* * *

"Yeah, Emiya Kiritsugu," Shirou nodded. "Have you heard of him?"

"Many have heard of Emiya Kiritsugu," Kirei said, sitting back behind the desk. "Did you know he was a contestant in the Fourth Grail War?"

"He didn't like talking much about his past," Shirou informed. "You were around for that one too?"

"Indeed," the priest confirmed. "My late father was the supervisor for that Grail. As you my have heard by now, it didn't end well for most of those involved. The Master of Saber, an underhanded and sneaky man, confabulated with another Magus who summoned an irregular Servant, the Shielder. Together, they caused a chain of events that brought many a tragedy, and in the end, Shielder prevailed and triggered the Grail's resurrection... but at a very high cost for so many souls."

"What a couple of awful men!" Taiga disapproved.

Kirei smiled, nodding. "You have said it."

"Wait a second, please," Miyu cut in, "but, if the Grail was activated then, why has it manifested itself again? And so soon, as well? Was that ever supposed to happen?"

"I ignore the reasons altogether," Kirei said, being completely honest this time. "Perhaps those who get to wake the Cup this time will learn on the subject. In the meanwhile, please manifest your Servants and report their Classes. This is information that will not be shared with the rest of Masters."

Seeing they had no real reason for refuting after coming this far, Shirou sighed and commanded, "Saber, show yourself."

"Caster, you do so as well," Miyu softly requested.

Each Servant appeared just as soon behind each of their respective Masters, and Kirei noted their presence with a detached nod, his expression not changing the slightest. He took a few notes down, then looked at the Servants again. "You are not the first to register, although how many and who they are, that is information I'm not authorized to share with you."

Saber chuckled within the confines of her helmet. "That is okay, uncertainty will only make the thrill of battle even sweeter."

"Oh, so you treat the War as a test for your skills," Kirei said, shiting his gaze to Shirou. "Is that a view you would share, boy?"

"Of course not, I'm trying to talk him out of it!" Shirou said. "This isn't a game, and frankly, the idea of people killing each other for a selfish goal disgusts me!"

"Reluctant about dealing death, I see," Kirei nodded, unsure of whether believing him or not. This was an alleged son of Emiya, after all. "But tell me, young man, how do you plan to survive through the Grail War without killing?"

Shirou flinched. "How... How am I supposed to plan for anything when I don't even know who are we going against? All I know is, our father taught us all human life is sacred, no matter how wretched it may seem. We'll tackle whatever comes our way one case after another, but we won't insult his memory by becoming cold blooded murderers."

Kirei pondered those words carefully. Well. Probably, after losing everything, Emiya had experienced a drastic change in his worldview, that was a reasonable enough assumption. Or perhaps these foolish children had only gotten to know a false side to him. Not being the kind of man who could truly understand honest changes of heart for the better, he chose the second alternative in his mind. "Are you aware you might have just insulted your Servant by calling them a murderer, boy? After all, from their visage it is clear they have cut down others in combat before. Haven't you, Saber?"

"I am a soldier, but if others choose calling me a killer, I don't really mind," Saber said. "Unlike others from my order, I don't fool myself thinking both things are all that different. And don't concern yourself over the differences between my Master and me, priest. That is our own business to mind."

"Saber!" Taiga hissed.

"How about you, Caster?" Kirei shifted his gaze over to the other Servant, whose hands rested on Miyu's shoulders. "Do you feel at ease with yourself, pulling a young child with yourself into this most deadly game?"

"All of us will be protecting Miyu-chan. Nothing bad will be happening to her..." Shirou swore.

"I believe the question was aimed at me, Shirou," Caster coldly said. "Sir, my legend is made of decisions and actions most others would find questionable at best and appalling at worst. There is no sacrifice I wouldn't make for my goals' sake, no depth I wouldn't sink to for them, and yet, currently my goal is protecting this child, to whom I owe my own life, no matter what, to repay her generosity to a stranger she had no reason to trust. So, as long as this body of mine works in the slightest, I will not allow any harm befall her. Thus this time I go into combat with the clear mind of someone who is no ravager but protector."

"I see..." Kirei nodded slowly. "I will let you know, it is curious, mere days ago I received a call from a Magus from Clock Tower, one Atrum Galliasta, arranging for a meeting he never came for. He mentioned having summoned a Caster Servant he was really thrilled to show me..."

Caster nodded. "He was my summoner. Regrettably for him, he had the infortune of running into a Servant far beyond his capacity to fight back."

"I understand," Kirei nodded, Caster's inflections telling him everything he neede to know. As someone else who would often speak in half truths to conceal the whole facts, it was easy for him to understand this woman. "Well, in the event that resolve would not be enough and you should fall before your Master, this Church is a neutral ground where those who have lost their Servants are allowed to take sanctuary from their enemies. We will protect you to the end, children of Emiya, should you lose your ranks as Masters, but only after you come back here and inform us of our situation. You also can give up on your roles as Masters at any given time, of course, by passing your Command Seals to another qualified magus. If in doubt of how that deed is performed, come to me and I will gladly perform the ceremony, in trade for a small fee to help supporting our congregation, of course."

Taiga nodded eagerly. "I see! That sounds very useful!"

"I'm not charging anyone else with this responsibility, Fuji-nee," Shirou said. "This must have been given to me for some reason, and I'm not going to give up on it just because it's the easiest thing to do. I agree, however, maybe we should look on a way for Miyu-chan to pass on hers..."

Kirei smiled again. "Ah, dreams of youth. Thinking of becoming a Hero of Justice, boy?"

"Well, sir, you know kids!" Taiga shrugged. "Our Shirou's an idealist, really, he's got such a noble heart..."

"Are you aware, however," Kirei asked Shirou, "the pursuit of justice is ultimately the most vile of causes? For the triumph of justice implies the previous existence of an evil to vanquish. And the greater said evil is, the more damage it brings upon others, the most sublime the victory of good over its pestilence and malice will be. Heroes feed on the villainy evildoers perform. The sublimation of virtue relies on the previous existence of great perfidy to overcome. When you say you hope to be a hero, you truly are hoping for the worst sins to be unleashed, so you can conquer them."

Shirou blinked, appalled, and then gasped, on a suddenly dry throat, "Tha-That's not what I-!"

Kirei raised both hands grandiously. "So take solace, Emiya Shirou! There is no greater threat to mankind than the Holy Grail War, no bigger risk for the continued existence of mankind! That is the most perfect field for heroes such as you to prove themselves in battle against the worst humanity has to offer! Let your heart be filled with these great hopes for your future!"

Miyu, Shirou, and Taiga stared on, with huge eyes and the words completely blown out of them.

Caster only rolled her eyes back behind the cloth of her hood.

"Okay," Saber said at last,"I don't know for sure whether I really dislike you or I really love what you are trying to say, old man, but I will say this, at the very least, you have left an impression on me..."

* * *

"That was... an interesting man for sure," Shirou said as they left the Church behind, the sun already setting down. Caster and Saber had returned to their spiritual forms, even though there was not really anyone around to see them; most students of Mahora were far too busy, preparing themselves for the incoming class trips.

"He's creepy," Miyu flatly summed up.

"Ah ha ha," Taiga laughed stiffly, "I'll admit he ended up sounding scary as hell, but I think he mostly wanted to shoo you of that dangerous path, and I can't blame him..."

Seeing her chance to get a good barb in now there weren't witnesses in sight, Saber reappeared, walking along Shirou. "You're a terrible judge of character, woman! He isn't the kind of man who could really lie; he meant every word of what he said. I can't say I'm surprised, though; most men of the cloth aren't what the commonage would think of them..."

"And what gave you this great insight into the human heart?" Taiga asked. "Experience?"

"Naturally!" Saber haughtily said. "I'm a hardened veteran of many campaigns, I can easily tell when I'm being lied to... or when I'm being watched! Show yourselves already!" she added, coming to a halt and slamming her sword onto the ground, making Shirou and Taiga flinch. Caster showed up again at the same time, grimly moving around Miyu protectively.

"Saber, what-" Shirou began, but then was silenced when two young women walked out from around a nearby corner, marching slowly towards them. One of them was archetypically Caucasian, with long silver hair, and wore a fine business-like ensemble, mostly in black with golden highlights, and high heeled shoes. The other was slightly shorter, with short pink hair and large thick glasses shielding most of her face. This one wore a plain white open jacket over a black dress blouse and a skirt that went down to her knees, plus a red tie and black leggings and shoes. She remained behind the other young lady at all times, and kept her gaze low, clearly subserviant. "Um, excuse me, are you-"

"A mage user, I can say," Caster coldly addressed the young woman at the lead. "Have you been watching over this church, just waiting for us to come out?"

"Don't flatter yourselves, we are on the look for anyone who would fit the role of a Master in a public place, where such is our prerogative," haughtily said the female with silver hair. She placed a hand on her own chest and announced herself, "I am Olga Marie Animusphere, heiress to the Animusphere clan, and daughter to the winner magus of Heaven's Feel Four."

Shirou and Taiga pulled back in alarm. _"The guy who blew the whole damn city up?!"_ the latter gasped, as Saber leveled her sword at the newcomers.

Olga Marie, to her credit, barely blinked at the threat. "Father didn't do such thing!" she indignantly replied, then rasped to compose herself back. "I'm not here to fight you. As you will see," she exposed her milky hands to them, completely bereft from any markings, "I'm not qualified to be a Master, even though otherwise I'm a prime practicioner of the crafts. This is my assistant and secretary, Mash Kyrielight."

"Pleased to meet you all," the girl with her bowed deeply, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Saber huffed gruffly, now aiming her weapon specifically at her. "Do I know you?" she asked her suspiciously.

"From where would we know each other, Sir?" the smaller girl respectfully asked back.

"I don't know, you remind me a damn whole lot of someone..." Saber ruminated, growing if anything more hostile by the moment, before finally lowering the sword. "But I can't feel any real power in you. Perhaps you are just related to that person."

"If you say so, Sir," Mash humbly said, and then nothing else.

"If you aren't a Master," Caster asked Olga Marie, "what brings you here now?"

"My father died four years ago, and one of the last wishes he could express properly was for us to come here when the time was right for his predictions to come true," Olga Marie stoically said. "He foretold the rebirth of the Fuyuki Grail under a new guise, but knew he wouldn't be believed by his peers. For his was the power of seeing into the future."

"That was his wish for the Holy Grail," Caster quickly caught on. "The ability to glimpse through the mists of time."

"Wisdom in general," Olga Marie ellaborated. "Ultimate wisdom to match that of King Solomon, who would have been his first choice for a Servant. Eventually, Father decided for another Heroic Spirit, one especifically fated to achieve the completion of such enterprises. It was a gamble that paid off, but at the same time, the realization of his dream also became his downfall. The knowledge of all that is, was, and will be proved too much for any normal man to handle. Slowly, Father's mind crumbled under the weight of things no man is meant to know. By his last years he only would talk in riddles, often of a most ominous nature."

"I'm really sorry to hear that," Shirou offered.

"Thank you," Olga gave him a dry nod. "We won't try to dissuade you from any path you have chosen, for we lack the power for it, but still, according to his wishes, we must ask you, what will you do with the Grail's power, should you reach it?"

"Gee, maybe you won't believe this, but we don't really have anything in mind for it," Shirou uneasily answered. "I mean, how could we? We were just thrown into this without any warning, it's not like we had any time to think-"

"I do!" Saber boldly said, stepping ahead. "Of course I do! To claim my birthright, to be awarded what is rightfully mine! To have what was denied from me in life, that is my wish! And whoever steps in the path of that goal will be cut down without a second thought!"

"That is an actual honest answer, and I thank you for that," Olga Marie nodded, even as Mash only could lower her head further behind herself, as if saddened to some degree by the Servant's words. "How about you, Other Servant?" she asked the, well, other Servant.

"I am Caster," she proudly introduced herself. "And all I ask from life is some peace and comfort I might have reached already. That doesn't mean I won't fight back as much as needed against anyone threatening that, however."

Olga didn't nod at this one, but hummed thoughtfully, then starting to walk away. "We shouldn't be taking more time from each other. Fight your own battles, and we will continue our own research. Hopefully we won't get into each other's way until these dark days have passed... if they ever do."

 _"If they ever do?!"_ Taiga cried.

"Research?" was what Shirou chose to repeat.

Olga briefly stopped and glanced back at him over her shoulder. "Father was a researcher first and foremost, and I follow on his footsteps. What other kind of man would ask for the greatest knowledge?"

And they kept marching on, until they were out of sight altogether.

Saber sheated her sword back. "I don't like them either."

"Do you ever like anyone?" Miyu asked her.

"It's not a habit I'm too fond of," the Servant admitted. "Let's just get back home already, I'm hungry. You'll have to find a way to replenish my mana like a proper magus, Shirou. Food only provides a ridiculous amount of what I need, and I haven't even begun fighting yet."

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing..." he sighed, moving ahead and choosing to play along for the time being. Caster briefly stayed at the back of the group before casually gesturing with a hand. A large fly flew around her fingers, buzzing as she charged it with arcane energies, and at another hand gesture of hers, the insect flew off and away, following the path Olga Marie and Mash had taken.

Caster smiled slyly to herself, then followed after her young Master, turning invisible once more.

The tiny familiar found its targets soon enough, hovering above them, past their detection. Olga Marie and Shielder moved down a narrow side street of the campus, as the sky above began growing gray and charged with storm clouds.

"What do you think?" Olga asked.

"She won't stop to think and consider," Mash sadly said. "She never does."

"But, are you sure you could actually fight her, if it comes down to that?"

"It's never been about what I want, and it shouldn't be. It's about my duty," the bespectacled girl quietly said. "If necessary, I will do it with no regrets."

"Hmmm," Olga said. "First things first, okay? I can sustain you as a familiar, but not as an armed Servant. For that, we will need finding you a new Master."

* * *

As they stopped by the front door of the Emiya House, Caster shifted back into view. She threw a hand up elegantly, and a little yellow bird flew down from the rooftop to delicately land on the back of her right hand, chirping at her and flapping its tiny wings.

Taiga, still with her key in the door, blinked at this. "Huh, I didn't know you had a Mary Poppins side to you!"

"My teacher at magecraft had a strong connection to birds, and she taught me quite a lot on the subject," Caster replied. "You wouldn't think I'd leave our home without anyone watching over it, would you? Until a better option can be worked out, these small familiars will provide enough surveillance to keep me posted of intruders like this one."

"This one?!" Shirou was startled. "You mean someone else got in?!"

"No, like I told you, my wards will keep all but the most exceptional Servants at bay," Caster said, sending the bird back away and following the others inside. "But there has been someone spying on this house from across the street, hiding from human eyes. The familiar cannot provide a good description, since it still has the intelligence of a bird, but it could tell me it was a woman, and that she left just before our arrival."

Saber showed herself again, too, taking the helmet off and dropping onto the couch with a scowl. "One of those idiots we ran into by the church, no doubt."

"I don't think so," Caster shook her head. "This one appears to be strikingly pale, enough as to have left that impression on the familiar's limited mind."

"The black Saber, then?" Shirou worried while Miyu excused herself towards the kitchen.

"No, Father can plow past the witch's defenses, remember?" Saber snorted. "He would have destroyed the whole insides of the house and waited in ambush inside... but then again, that is not the kind of man he is, either. I doubt he'll come back here, he will wish for a more proper battlefield for our final showdown."

"Oh, come on, how many pale female Servants can there be in this war anyway?" Taiga complained. "And why would they just stake the house and then leave instead of waiting all the way for us to arrive and attack us?! It takes a whole new kind of twisted stupid mind to plan something like that..."

Illyasviel von Einzbern sneezed loudly as the huge window of the chamber where she had been resting on a luxurious and expensive red couch was pushed open from the outside, and in dropped a pale, red eyed tall and busty woman in the pristine white uniform of Einzbern maid homunculi, holding a gigantic black halbard in a hand. Illya grumbled, rubbing her nose, as the icy wind of an incoming storm blew from the mountain woods.

"Dammit, I don't get it. Our country is far colder than this!" the diminutive albino complained. "Close after you, Leysritt! What do you have to say?"

"My apologies, Illya," said the woman, closing the window after herself. "The target was not home all day long, but then neither were most of his neighbors. From what I picked up from conversations picked up from passerbys, I suspect this might have something to do with something called a 'school day'..."

"Leysritt," a woman who looked just like her twin, but less curvaceous and very slightly shorter, frowned at the newcomer, standing behind Illya's couch respectfully. "We are to call her 'Lady Illyasviel' at all times!"

Abandoned for a decade now, the Mahora Einzbern castle was just one of several such properties the ancient clan of alchemists had built across the island nation ever since the first Heaven's Feel, in the event somehow they were forced to partake in a Grail War at some area but Fuyuki's. That foresight had paid off well now, and it had taken Illya's maids only a couple of days to set the gigantic stone fortress overlooking Academy City from far above into a comfortable home away from home for an aristocratic child. Illya, in a short purple skirt and long sleeved blouse, crossed her legs on the couch, tapping her fingers on her folded arms and frowning thoughtfully.

"School, huh...?" she said. "So he is not homeschooled, did he fall in disgrace after Father's death? What a joke! Wait, didn't you break in and bring me any souvenirs!?"

"Regrettably, the house was surrounded by wards and seals to repel me," Leysritt informed, reaching into a pocket of her dress and pulling a small grotesque sculpture of a grinning imp out. "I managed to steal one of their lawn gnomes for you, however."

Illya made a face of disgust. "What a hideous thing! Throw it into the fire!"

Lesyritt nodded. "I shall go prepare the chimney..."

"Not right now, numbskull!" Illya whined. "First tell me, didn't you even get to see him from afar?! Is he living with anyone else?!"

Leysritt denied with subdued head motions. "I couldn't see him before my report deadline, however, I overheard further intelligence from female neighbors regarding an old aunt and some younger sister. Also, something about a bar jump and some nice legs, but what the context for that is, I don't know..."

 ** _"A sister...!"_** Illya hissed. "Why those two dogs! How dare they having a daughter and a sister, while leaving me behind, forgotten like some unwanted debris?!"

"I also passed through a mini market in my way back and bought some Pocky," Leysritt added, pulling a smal colorful box out of another pocket and offering it to her mistress. "Want some?"

"Screw your Pocky!" Illya said, regardless snatching the box away and quickly stuffing a first stick into her mouth. "Hmmmm, not bad! But there is no better dish than revenge served cold. Berserker!"

The tall, Amazonian woman standing guard by the chamber's door growled.

Illyasviel smirked mischievously, rubbing her hands together. "Tomorrow, we are going to pay Dear Brother a social visit he will never forget, hee hee hee..."

 _ **"Grwlf!"**_ Berserker nodded with a twitchy nod and baring of teeth.

"On second thougth, instead of disposing of the lawn gnome, could I please keep it in my room?" Leysritt respectfully asked. "I have been thinking of starting a collection for a time now..."

"Oh, do whatever you want, but don't ruin my big moments of menaceful foreboding!" Illya groaned, throwing her hands up.

* * *

 _Some Time Ago:_

Balance. It has often been said to be one of the most, if not the most, important forces in existence. If not for balance, the world would plummet right back into the abyss of chaos it once rose from. Absolutes lead to corruption, no matter how tempting or harmonious they may appear on the surface. An equilibrium is needed between good and evil, light and darkness, scarcity and abundance, spirituality and materialism.

That was evident even in the core of a manmade magical machine intended to grant mankind's wishes through a direct link to the Root of all things. An imperfect duplicate of the communications Heaven may establish with mortals, the Holy Grail of Fuyuki was the most successful attempt by magi to reach the Source of all power, but even it could be corrupted and tainted, and so it was, over seventy years ago, in the midst of the Third Heaven's Feel ritual of Fuyuki. Then, a wicked spirit known as Angra Mainyu, a living vessel of evil and human suffering, was absorbed into the blessed cup and blackened it from the inside.

Sixty years later, the Fourth Heaven's Feel had used one homunculus of the Einzbern clan, Irisviel, as its template for the Grail's rebirth. At the conclusion of this cataclysmic war, Fuyuki City ceased to be, consumed by flames, and the Grail appeared destroyed forever. However, it had merely slept an uneasy and all too short rest, spreading towards the nearest center of magical activity in the islands of Japan. All the while two opposite presences warred within it, each trying to tilt the delicate balance in their own favor.

They had sat at opposite sides of the same pool of swirling darkness, the male figure of black and red shadows smirking cruelly at the tall, dignified woman of white _and_ in white. Each exerted their presence against the other, pushing back and enduring the other's own push in a perpetual stalemate, until Angra Mainyu stated the obvious.

"This," he had predicted, sounding more tired and fed up than anything, "is not going to take you anywhere, Dress of Heaven."

"As long as it doesn't take _you_ anywhere either, that is still fine with me," the spirit of Irisviel von Einzbern had said.

Servant Avenger had shaken his scruffy, disheveled head to left and right, like a sick dog left too long under the sun. "No, no, no. It's harming you more than it is harming me, and you know that. I'm fairly sure I can win this attrition war of ours, in the long run. But I'd rather finish it right here and now. I can't hold myself back any longer. And I can tell neither can you, Princess."

"I will, if necessary," the fair lady with long silvery hair had insisted, "No matter if I'm torn from the inside, no matter how much you pressure and insist, Evil One. I won't run any risk you may cut loose upon this world."

Angra Mainyu had laughed bitterly, tossing an arm back behind his neck, and hunching him over slightly to glance at Irisviel in deranged bemusement. "You fool! Do you really believe you have any saying on the matter? You don't, anymore than I do. We may be part of the Grail, but it still controls us as much as we control it. The Grail wants to be free. I suppose I should congratulate you for holding it back this long, but you know that by this point, all we can do is deciding whether it is used for good or evil."

The beautiful presence countering his wickedness had frowned. "Let us reach a compromise," she finally said.

Avenger had grinned demonically. "Whenever good and evil compromise, good is capitulating to evil. So this suggestion pleases me. What is your pitch, sister?"

Ignoring his attempts to unnerve her, she had stoically said, with a poise her illustrious ancestor and originator would have envied, "Mahora's grounds are much richer in true magic than Fuyuki's ever were. We can easily summon far more Servants than we could have before. Your faction against mine, Foul One. They will decide this strife for us, so mankind itself may redeem or damn itself."

Avenger had laughed again, a mirthless laughter, slapping himself on a knee. He had nodded cagily, red eyes shining in the dark. "A most excellent idea, for me, that is! By leaving matters on human hands, you have guaranteed my victory."

"We will see," Irisviel had not flinched, back then. "Each of us will form an avatar and send it to gather forces. And to guarantee neither will break the rules of the engagement, we will summon a neutral third party, serving neither your goals nor mine."

"A Ruler, you say," Angra Mainyu had folded his callous hands under his chin, supporting the weight of his head on them. "I have no objections against that either. You only keep handicapping yourself, woman, as ultimately, all things end up leaning to evil and decay, even those that would appear holy or impartial."

"If you were correct, mankind would have destroyed itself long ago already, Avenger. It has had plenty of time for that until now," the feminine presence had pointed out. "This time, you won't win. Because this time… my baby boy and I will kick your ass, bitch!"

Right now, a few objective weeks afterwards for real world standards- even though the passage of time held little meaning within the confines of the Holy Grail- Irisviel's lingering presence was starting to mildly question her earlier confidence. The Grail still was, after all, more Angra Mainyu than herself, despite her best attempts to fight it from the inside. Not only it had sent the corrupted Servants it had previously consumed back upon the mortal realm, but she suspected Angra Mainyu had a strong hand in the choice of several of the new Legendary Spirits making it to this Heaven's Feel, and the human hands that had come to hold their reins.

She once more analyzed the pool of players in this game, with a frown burrowing her near perfect features, and inwardly seethed at the cruel mockery Angra Mainyu had made of her through the fallen figure of her brave champion. She knew the deck was stacked against her. After checking through the Classes summoned and accounted by the new breed of Magi, she breathed deeply and rolled the metaphysical odds for what should be the final player in the drama if Avenger didn't have it his way and the whole blasted thing didn't unravel even further. One of the least likely Classes to hold the title of a savior, and one of the least likely remaining compatible souls in the area chosen for the confrontation. This gamble would most likely not work on its own either. But perhaps, just perhaps, if combined with everything else she already had managed to put into motion...

The holy lady closed her eyes and whispered, channeling her power to connect herself to the Throne of Souls, linking to yet another spirit from yore. She whispered the call, and the spirit that latched onto it did heed her voice.

 _"Assassin,"_ she called forth. _"We are counting on you now."_

* * *

Moon Cancer was far from being a normal Servant, and she took great pride and delight on it. The circumstances of her summon had been suitably special, and involved a sort of arrangement between her and the Nice Lady that would have been impossible to imagine, much less strike, by any other Heroic Spirit Moon Cancer had ever encountered herself.

At the same time, Moon Cancer did **_not_** like humans, and that included the human her programming had been based on. There had been only one human she had ever liked, and that had been Sempai- who was not even this feeble girl's Sempai, as she had learned through a first contact with her, adding to Moon Cancer's dislike of her. If she was aiding the Nice Lady at all, it was only for _**her**_ own Sempai's sake, or at least this world's version of Sempai, who had to be somewhere out there, waiting for her without knowing yet.

Moon Cancer, a patient schemer by nature, sat in one of several large book filled rooms in the disgusting old man's manor, lazily resting on an old couch and flipping through a particularly interesting book, ignoring the long drawn moans and gasps of the stupid prototype and the boy, who was even more disgusting and slimy than his grandfather, somehow. This had come as sort of a surprise, since the Matou Shinji Moon Cancer had once known was nowhere as bad, and as matter of fact, for human standards, she found him bearable. Not so much this one, but Moon Cancer understood the necessity to play nice while a good plan cooked up. And so, when the boy had pulled his fancy silly book out and started rambling on being her Master now, Moon Cancer had smiled and gone along with the joke, bowing and promising a loyalty she wasn't willing to give.

Then the boy had tried forcing them into a foursome. And then Meltlilith had swung a sharp leg up and placed its tip against his Adam's apple.

The Alter Ego had hissed, with more poison and fury than Moon Cancer had ever witnessed from her before, _"Are you really sure you want that?"_

That had been good for a laugh. Moon Cancer herself probably would have gone for a less straightforward solution, but then, smart thinking had never been poor Melt's forte, and it had worked fine anyway. Well, except for the prototype, but that was her problem, hardly Moon Cancer's.

Passionlip sat at a corner in a disturbed silence, hugging her legs against her voluminuous breasts with her oversized claws. Meltlilith sat nearby, trying to concentrate on the figurine she was trying to put together, and finally snapping her head upwards towards the source of the noise. "Can't we just kill them, BB?!" the slim, mutilated aspect of herself complained acridly. "They're just too distracting!"

Moon Cancer shook her head, smiling mischievously while turning the page. "For shame, Melt-chan, now that's self-destructive behavior if I've ever seen one! Don't be so uptight, why can't you be a bit more like Passion-chan?"

The Alter Ego stared angrily at her sister unit, who just dodged her fiery eyes with a downcast look. "That's gotta be your biggest joke ever, as if I'd ever-"

Moon Cancer suddenly perked up, closing the book. "Quiet."

Meltlilth blinked. "What?"

BB hopped from the old couch, skipped her way over to a small wall mirror by a stand under the curious gazes of both Alter Egos, and touched its surface with her fingertips, to do one of those things no mere Servant lacking her fantastic awesomeness could ever do. "What is it?" she asked aloud. "You've just interrupted some steamy, unique entertainment, you know...!"

Through the small ripple in the fabric of reality, the Nice Lady asked another favor from her.

"Okay," Moon Cancer replied, "but this will cost you an extra..."

And so, nearly a hour later, somewhere else in Academy City, a young woman sitting before a computer in the warm, cozy darkness of her bedroom smiled in bliss, basking in the sole light of the room, that of the computer she had been facing over several straight hours now, with nothing but the occasional bathroom break.

"Chiu-chan is so kawaii...!" she gushed to herself, happily checking on the latest update of her favorite virtual idol.

She looked fairly youthful, more than she actually was, and her chubbiness was somewhat diminished by the fact she was fairly tall for a Japanese female. Even so, her frame would have suffered through the eyes of any outside observer by virtue of being clad into jeans and a black tee shirt that were too tight to properly contain her physical assets. But then again, that was part of why she didn't ever allow outside observers in her private paradise.

 _"Kawaii kawaii, kawaii..."_ Caragiri Jinako sing-sang happily, filing image after image of the latest gallery, moving her head along her tune so her long brown hair whipped around, nd she laughed goofily, her glasses slipping down her face. "Well, that's all for now, there'll be time for a fap later, but first let's check the boards..."

And then, much to her annoyance, when she tried to click on the link to the message boards, she instead clicked on a pop up had just appeared there, sporting the face of a dumbly smirking purple haired bitch with her tongue poking out and a winking eye. "Oh, for fuck's sake, since when you have pop-ups, Chiu-chan?!"

Jinako winced, seeing the link had led her to a page with a solid black background, and there was something written on red letters all over it. Jinako squinted, adjusting her glasses, and read the passage, which was in English, a language she had come to learn through sheer Internet convenience over the last few years.

 _Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Let each be turned over five times, simply breaking asunder the fulfilled time._

 _Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let my great master be the ancestor. Raise a wall, against the wind that shall fall. Close the four cardinal gates. Come out from the crown. Rotate the three-branched road reaching the Kingdom._

 _I shall declare here. Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason…then answer!_

 _An oath shall be sworn here! I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell! From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Balance!_

"What the hell is this crap..." Jinako grumbled, moving the mouse around, and then yelped as her hand, which suddenly itched so much and badly, accidentally was cut with a piece of paper she had been taking notes on during earlier Net research. A single tiny drop of her blood trickled to the floor, between her feet.

And then the computer had shut itself down, causing Jinako to shriek, and a single beam of light flew up from her floor, which made her shriek a bit less.

The shut-in wheeled back on her favorite chair, as something took form in the new sole light before herself. Jinako swallowed her, as this form became increasingly visible as a woman, shorter and smaller than her but also prettier and slimmer, with large feminine hazel eyes behind glasses that were more angular and less nerdy than hers. She wore a fine pink and light purple dress with a hood ornated with two long batlike ears, and which showed her short brown hair, framing her beautiful face. Jinako blushed and whimpered as this vision from some manga or fantasy romance Light Novel stared quietly at her, with the aloof coldness of a descenced goddess. And then, finally, she spoke to her, but only after a long, languid yawn.

" _Ah..._ Hello, I'm Osakabehime of the Assassin class... Hey, can I go home now? No?" she blandly said, as Jinako failed to produce any kind of answer whatsoever. "Ah, I see..."

The world was, definitely, fucked over.

* * *

 **End of Chapter Two.**


	4. Old Wounds

_**Ten Years Ago:**_

"You are late," said gravelly the extremely tall, white as snow both in hair and attire, and nearly as pale, as well.

His guest made a small, apologetic smile. The old man still choose to interpret it as an insolent gesture, because that was the way he was. "Sorry about that, Herr Acht. I ran into a few old friends on my way here."

They stood before each other in a chamber one thousand years old, deep into a castle within the snowy mountains of Northern Gartland. The windows of stained glass portrayed miracles from the past in starkly colorful hues contrasting with the grim presence of the rest of the chamber. They told the long history of the Heaven's Feel rituals. A history the young tall man with the concealing cloak, the ragged coat and the generic, harmless looking face was no part of. Until that day.

"We are gambling the future of the Einzbern legacy on your performance, Maris Billy Animusphere," the humorless voice of Justabeicht von Einzbern echoed thunderously across the chamber. "The enemies you have gained must not interfere in your assignment. I trust you have understood the seriousness of this situation by now."

"Completely, Herr Acht," the man called Animusphere nodded. "Anything you say, Herr Acht!"

As he spoke, several male homunculi walked closer, one holding a sealed box, three others carrying a huge circular package, heavily wrapped around, which made the master of the castle fall reverently silent, the young man's insolence forgotten. _"You have delivered…"_ he whispered, before pride overtook him again, and he stared harshly at the visitor once again, until another man spoke up.

"It doesn't matter. Should any of them appear, I will dispose of them as we agreed. Maris Billy," he nodded blandly towards the other man, who was carelessly shaking blood stained snow off the bruises all over him. "Thank you for bringing the catalysts, but maybe you'd like a bath and some treatment first?"

"Nah. I work better like this," said the visitor, handing this long coat over to a doll-like, dutiful maid of milky skin and ice red eyes. "You won't mind, will you, Sella dear? Thanks, you're a lifesaver." He looked at the slightly older than him black haired man, in a fine black suit and tie, and asked, "How's Illya?"

The other man managed a small smile, something Maris Billy had never seen him doing before. "Thanks for asking. Healthier and more beautiful each passing day. I'll take you to see her as soon as we're done here."

"Let's get on with it then," said the adventurous academic, rolling his sleeves up. For a moment, his gaze met that of the gorgeous woman standing by his associate, her arm on his. Wearing the rich ceremonial dress in regal purple and silver, her long white hair loosely framing her angelic face, she was the kind of beauty he favored, reminding him of his own wife, but even more delicate and yet elegantly sensuous. He shook those thoughts off shortly, knowing all too well what was in store and at play, and his excited smile returned, mostly to annoy the old magus king of this frozen castle. "It's always stupid making royalty wait!"

Soon later, he and Emiya Kiritsugu stood at opposite sides of an ancient large altar lit by dozens of candles, listening to the winds howl and roar outside. On its surface, two large chunks of old, rusty metal set before Emiya, and a gigantic, round dark shape taking most of the altar before Animusphere. Jubstacheit and Irisviel stood aside, flanked by several armed homunculi of ghastly pale and inexpressive faces. The conjurers extended their arms ahead and chanted the words, feeling the respective magus crests within their bodies pulse and vibrate. This was the power of two separate lineages manifesting through them, forcing to synchronize as they said each word at the exact same time, with practiced discipline and coordination.

Each summoning of a Heroic Soul was a miracle. But the Einzberns had always strived to take miracles even further.

 _"Set, set…"_

Sixty years ago, the illustrious clan had failed to bend the rules they had set themselves in the first Heaven's Feel. Irisviel's eyes quietly rested, for a moment, on one of the stained windows, showing the family's prior representative standing before a dark, vaguely shaped figure with red eyes, an image that always made her shudder inwardly. But of course, she told herself, she trusted Kiritsugu not to commit a similar mistake. She had the utmost faith on him, and even her distrustful father had for once placed his confidence on someone. The Magus Killer and the scholar. A mismatched pair if there was ever one.

She was so distracted by such thoughts she missed on most of the chants, until she felt her father's hand squeezing her shoulder tightly, for support, the first sign of true humanity she had ever seen from him. Against all she had ever believed when briefly entertaining unlikely and laughable notions in that vein, however, that gesture of strange vulnerability from the tower of a man didn't make her feel any better. Just scared, because if _he_ was shaken, even for a second, what did that mean for the world?

 _"—the hands to protect the balance!"_

From each set of relics, a figure rose bathed on pure light, glorious and imposing. One of them, a gorgeous young-looking blonde in a long blue dress, with armor plates on her chest and gauntlets, her hair neatly tied back into a single white bun. By Animusphere's side, next to this impossibly beautiful armed female warrior, a dutiful looking young woman with light short hair, which fell in bangs that would hide most of her cute rather than gorgeous pale face. She wore a form hugging black ensemble of body armor that actually showed a lot of her curvaceous, surprisingly well stacked physique off, complete with tall boots. In a hand, she held a gigantic thick shield that looked like someone had taken a massive dark table apart and started carrying it around for protection. It was easily bigger than either young woman, and almost touched the room's quite high ceiling. That on itself was no shock, as most Servants were alleged to be superhumanly strong regardless of size.

The fact both of these Servants were females, however, had managed to reduce everyone around them into a stunned, disbelieving silence.

The blonde managed to speak a fraction of a second first, with a voice that was cold and devoid of feeling. Her green eyes fixed squarely on Kiritsugu, who only could stare at him in disbelief, despite all of the marvels and horrors alike he had witnessed until then.

"I am Servant Saber," was what she said. "I ask of thee, are thou my Master?"

And then she heard the gasp by her side, and she felt herself mildly startled for a split second, looking into a familiar face that stared back, wide eyed, at her. "I… I am Servant Shielder," the other young lady said, her earlier confidence upon summoning now replaced by a confused amazement as she found herself reborn along her lord and sovereign. "And… I am glad to see you again… Your Majesty? Do we, do we have to fight each other, now?"

The old master of the castle took a hand to the bridge of his strong nose, beginning to massage it sharply. For once he was at a complete loss for words and actions that would last far too long for his taste.

* * *

 _Fate Stay Night_ , _Fate Prototype_ , _Fate Zero_ , _Fate Hollow Ataraxia_ , _Fate EXTRA_ , _Fate Extella_ , _Fate Apocrypha_ , _Fate Strange/Fake_ , _Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya_ , _Fate Requiem, Fate School Days_ and _Fate Grand Order_ all are the creation and intellectual property of Nasu Kinoko and Type-Moon.

All other featured and mentioned franchises belong to their respective copyright owners.

With Special Thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, Darkenning, Kamenhero25, Moczo, Ol'Vesper, GhostXavier and The Infamous Man for the inspiration.

* * *

 **Lovely Magical Collectible Waifu Game of Death!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three.**

* * *

 **Old Wounds.**

* * *

 _ **Fuyuki City, Now:**_

"Remember back then, Lancer?"asked the lithe, waiflike barefoot girl, sitting on the edge of a rooftop, the tall tower being one of the few left standing overlooking the bleak outline of the ruined city. She reached up to delicately rub the handsome cheek of the tall, lean but muscular man standing by her side, holding a fabled spear in each hand and fixedly looking into the horizon of a hellish red dawn. "Remember how I freed you from those two awful, horrible Masters, my Prince Charming?"

"I never could forget, My Dame," the dark haired man formally said, always the living picture of gallantry, and the petite pale girl in the white dress smiled. She swung her legs back and forth contentedly.

"It was all thanks to you, you know!" she chirped, moving her head aside so it could rub his arm. The tick, bulging red veins unnaturally creeping all over his flesh and contrasting with the solid black his body armor had been coated with only made his contact feel even better. "If not for you, I would have remained the failure my father was. I owe everything to you, all we have managed, all we will achieve from now on."

"Looking forward to it, My Dame," he smiled suavely, looking aside at her, and disspelling one of his spears so he could place a hand tenderly on her head, rubbing on it and ellicting a happy purr from her. "But it is you who has saved me from my tragedy. Truly, only thanks to you-"

"A true love story is never ending," said a voice from somewhere else on the rooftop, "but I'm afraid this one must pause while this humble retainer explains himself."

Lancer frowned, and his lady pouted, as they looked behind them, to face the sinister figure in black on the mask of the white skull. "What do you want, Assassin?" the short young woman asked.

Assassin bowed. "I have finished my sweep over the Four Schools. As expected, other than an earlier manifestation in Ohtori, all activity has concentrated around Mahora. Saber has had run-ins with three new Servants already. One is a Lancer who should interest you greatly, Lord Diarmuid. Another is a hooded woman, for all appearances a Caster. And finally, there is an armored Saber who engaged the King in a fairly even duel. Shortly before I showed myself to her, the King mentioned the name of Mordred..."

"That's... interesting!" the blonde smirked, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes. "Anything else?"

"Aye," the emissary of the Hundred Faces Hassan nodded. "The Mahora Einzbern Castle has been inhabitated, by a childlike elite homunculus and two drones at her service. Regrettably I couldn't take notice of her Servant, Princess Manaka. The castle is even more heavily warded than that of Fuyuki."

"Well, it can't be helped!" Sajyou Manaka sighed with a shrug of slim shoulders. "The dollmakers had to get wise after last time. What about the others?"

"As you predicted," Assassin informed, "Rider grows restless in Honnouji. I fear he will foolishly engage the area's controllers in a bid for their power, should he not be given someone else to battle."

"Must I think of everything myself?" Manaka rolled her eyes, clapping once. "Hello! Send Rider after Saber's spawn, then."

"That will hardly make the King happy, O Princess," Assassin pointed out.

"I know, I'm counting on that," Manaka smirked, wagging a finger. "Saber's bound to notice, and it'll be a race between her and Rider, that should be a whole lot of fun! Then... how about Berserker? It's weird we haven't heard of him since we cut him loose. Do you think he may have ran out of mana and burned himself down even before engaging anyone? That's not like him at all..."

"My other selves are looking for him as we speak, Princess," Assasin said, lowering his head, "but you are correct, we should have heard of him by this point. Asako holds the theory that, in his insanity, he might be under the impression he still needs a Master, and thus has tied himself to one, and that person is slowing him down. Perhaps, if you would think it wise, you could ask the Grail on-"

"Hardly worth the effort!" Manaka groaned, waving a hand at him. "See, Lancer, that is why I hate ugly mad dogs! And speaking of that, Assassin..."

The shadowy killer paused uneasily. "I fear Caster might be undergoing a similar case, Princess," he informed. "We do have a solid fix on his current location, and we have managed to contain him from revealing his hand too soon, but... it appears the main reason why he isn't lashing out yet is he feels the need for a partner."

"Hmmm," Manaka put a hand to her chin, nodding. "Yes, yes, that makes sense! Caster was very fond of his Master, and must be going through a baaaad case of separation anxiety, coming back without him. But, where could he find a fitting replacement for that kind of human beast...?"

As if answering this riddle, at the vague same time, far from the destroyed city and deep under Academy City, in a deep underground chamber between the Ohtori and CLAMP Districts, a large, hunchbacked figure with bulging, twitching round eyes and long, greasy wild hair breathed wildly, pacing back and forth across his dark, dank subterranean lair, an old abandoned train station that was part of a system ruined beyond repair fifteen years ago. This man also bore the signs of corruption from the Black Mud all over his flesh and his once colorful, now fading robes with a tall collar and long sleeves, but unlike the once noble Lancer, such influence had not changed his behavior in the slightest. Even for all Evils in the World, it is difficult to push certain individuals further past the limits of inhumanity.

"Ohhhhh, yesss.." he darkly intoned to himself, smacking his lips haphzardly with his purplish tongue. In his hands he held a yellowed, damp newspaper brought down his home by the rain, one he held onto with the feverish airs of a man struck by great inspiration. "Thank you, **_Ryuunosuke_** , for wherever you are, you have listened to me! I am moved to tears," he sniffled loudly, "by this selfless showing of your love for _**meeeee**_!" he hysterically howled, gesturing up with a hand, his bony arm rattling before it was lowered amidst fervorous pants.

Caster rolled the newspaper up, and aimed it aside, at two skewered children, torn apart and nailed to one of his walls. The first of many, whose disappearances would be all over the dailies and television news by tomorrow. "Do you see now, my angels? Do you see that, should randomness align itself and patience would suffice, great blessings would befall even upon the most blasphemous...?!"

He cackled haughtily while waddling towards them, unfolding the newspaper before the bodies to clearly show the picture of a man of sharp features and a wide grin showing off a multitude of teeth like piano keys, overcrowding the confines of a red mouth that stretched far up two starkly white cheeks. The Caster cackled from the bottom of his throat, each stray fish eye looking into their dead own, as if looking for their answers there. "This era has provided me with the great architect of pain I need. A COOL genius of the sublime exhaltation of widespread death! A man who, even among the many monsters of these troubled times, stands as the most infamous of them. I must know him! Yes, yes, I must..." he breathed in and out, raggedly, as if tired by his own intensity.

"Now all I need," Gilles de Rais finished, in a lower voice, "is a way to bring him from overseas. Any ideas?"

* * *

"I'll say this for you, Shirou," Saber contentedly said, while taking a final mouthful of her third plate, "you are a daaaaaaamn good cook! Best one I ever saw, perhaps! No offense, Caster's Master..."

"... I hear that a lot, so don't think you have hurt me," Miyu blandly said.

Caster nodded while taking another bite from her breakfast, more elegantly. "Indeed, Young Emiya, for once I have to agree with Saber. You will make a nice wife for someone someday, should you survive this ordeal."

"Ah ha ha, yeah, aren't you two a riot," Taiga said as Shirou, with a small drop of sweat attached to his head, pulled Saber's plate off the table and went for more as of her eager petition. "Do you really have to chow so much down, though, Saber? We are people living on a budget, you know...!"

"I normally wouldn't be this much of a glutton, that's more like Father," Saber admitted, "but to make up for Shirou's pathetic mana shortcomings, I need to devour like a hungry wolf just to barely keep myself going. Of course, if you'd rather have me go out and consume souls, I guess I can do that as well..."

"No, definitely not!" Shirou roared from the kitchen.

Saber shrugged. "See? His choice, not mine! I have to say, though, these meals do taste much better than any soul ever would! I'm surprised you wouldn't go with more yourself, Caster..."

"Us Casters have a more rational and effective way to assimilate the mana input from our Masters than the Knight classes on average," the hot witch remind her, her hood down and hanging from her shoulders, "and besides, Miyu-sama does have a better mana pool than her brother's."

"Another thing I've been meaning to ask," Taiga said, "don't you two have any other clothes on you? I must have something that fits you, and I'd rather lend you from my wardrobe than having you stench all over the place. Especially you, Saber, you must be cooking alive in that thing...!"

"Thank you, but I've never been fond of stripes," Caster turned the offer down with cold politeness. "Besides, our bodies are especially made by the Grail and lack several physical traits yours would have. No matter how long, we will never grow sweaty and smelly from the action of the elements."

Saber looked more receptive of the idea, as Shirou returned with another plate for her. "I wouldn't mind getting new clothes, I could change back and forth from them to this armor with only a thought." Her helmet was resting aside on the table, making for a curious ornament at the very least, but she still wore the rest of the metal suit otherwise. "Don't get me wrong, I love this armor. It accompanied me through all of my greatest battles, and a knight's armor is his lifetime mate, more than any living soul could ever be. And it just looks awesome, doesn't it? At the same time, I sort of hate it since it is a gift from my mother. That's okay, though, I'm powered by hatred so..."

"So you hate both of your parents," Caster pondered. "That is interesting, and didn't you say I reminded you of your mother?"

"Quite," Saber nodded, eyeing her dangerously. "Mother was a viper hiding in the grass, an indecent harlot preaching revenge based on virtue, a manipulative shrew, and I believe all those qualities apply to you as well."

"Just because she's a witch too?" Taiga asked. "In these times we call that profiling, Saber! It's something to be ashamed about!"

"I thought you disliked her too!" Saber protested.

"She must since she keeps calling me a witch, despite the fact I've warned her I dislike that moniker..." Caster quietly brooded, only nodding at Shirou as he poured her tea. "Thank you, Miyu-sama's Brother."

"We could go out and buy you some clothes after classes, so you don't have to borrow from Fuji-nee," Shirou said, sitting back down to start eating his lunch again. "That's okay, the budget hasn't been stretched that far yet..."

"No need for it, we won't be staying that long," Saber shook her head. "Especially her!" she poked a thumb towards Caster.

The sorceress glared. "Don't speak of my plans for the future in my place, Saber. If that is fine with Miyu-sama, I would not mind, I suppose..."

"Yeah, well instead of wasting time with frivolities you should worry about the War itself!" Saber told her. "If you're going to be of any support at all, you'd better start doing... I don't know, whatever at your workshop! Do you even have one yet?"

Caster nodded. "As a matter of fact, I was working on it all night long, in Young Emiya' Dojo."

Taiga spat her tea out all over the table. "Wha- Whaaaaaaa?!" she cried. "What have you done to _our_ training hall?!"

"It is now a first category magical atelier prepared for the deadliest tactics in magical warfare," Caster informed proudly. "While still a work in progress, and lacking many of the materials I used to favor while in more favorable environments, I am still fairly satisfied with the results so far." There was a pause. "Would you know where to find housepets that nobody would greatly miss in this neighborhood?"

Taiga turned to the little girl. "Miyu-chan! Let _**me**_ kill her!"

"Don't fight, don't fight..." Shirou groaned, closing his eyes.

In the house next door, Akashi Yuuna huffed while slinging her backpack over her shoulders. "Are they still arguing?" she grumbled, overhearing their voices from the entrance. "They'll make us tardy, geez..."

"I was more than half serious when I said you should move into the dorms," her father said, while straightening his green tie. "Not only you wouldn't need to wake up so early, but I'm not sure you should be sleeping here anymore over the next few weeks. You'd be safter staying over with Ako and Akira..."

"Dad, if trouble's going to chase me it'll keep chasing me no matter where I go," the girl grouched, still evidently upset at him. "Get that in your head already. Or what, do you think I'm going to be much safer around Negi-kun at all times? If Misa, Sakurako, Misora and Asuna are hanging at all times with him and the two social outcasts now, the only sane explanation is he's dragged them into that world somehow. Unless you want me joining their little social club?"

"You must be imagining things," the man said. "Negi-kun is a prodigy mage, no way he'll have left his guard down around so many girls."

"Daaaaaaad!" Yuuna complained. "You don't know them! There's no way those girls would be spending any time together without a reason like that, they've got literally nothing in common! Madoka has complained Sakurako and Misa will often take badly explained leaves of absence from their room, and that makes no sense, they've got much more in common with Madoka than with any of the others." Then she stopped herself, frowning at the sudden thoughtful look on the man's face. "Dad. You aren't going to rat Negi-kun out to the Headmaster, are you?"

"The rules say, if I have a suspicion on any member of the staff breaking any laws concerning the maintenance of the secrecy, I am to report them. It's bad enough I'm keeping the Emiyas' involvement into a Heaven's Feel a secret, and that's not only as a favor to Taiga and Kiritsugu, but also because they have registered properly to the authorities on the subject."

"Well, they aren't **your** suspicions, they're **mine**!" Yuuna argued. "Do you know what will happen to me if because of me Negi-kun is pulled away and turned into a rat or something? Iinchou would tear me apart alive, and that's before the rest of them get their hands on me! Please, Dad, if you respect me at all, don't-!"

"A moot point, since there's no way what you are imagining is true!" he huffed, reaching for his keys. "Think of my proposal anyway, Yuuna. You'll be much safer in the campus, it is much more protected than this area..."

Sitting on the rooftop and monitoring the activity below, Sella would be the first to argue on the subject, but instead only said, from her well hidden surveillance spot, and as the car was driven away towards the academy with the Akashis, the Emiyas, and two Heroic Spirits inside, "Leysritt, the target is on the move. You know what to do."

* * *

"And she told me, 'Sorry, Miss, but we can't grant you a license until you have taken a test with our supervisors, and you are eighteen'," the pink haired petite girl commented, sitting around a fountain with Yuuna and another friend, a pale, frail looking girl of short and grayish hair who was barely any taller than the pink haired one. "Do you think that's fair at all, Yuuna-chan?!"

"I told you it wasn't gonna work, Makie-chan," Yuuna rolled her eyes, then looked around. "I wonder what happened to Akira-chan?" she changed the course of the conversation, much to the relief of the third schoolgirl having lunch. "Ako, wasn't she with you?"

"Ah, yes, she was, but she was approached by this new friend of hers, Aino-san from the volleyball team, and she took her aside, I don't know exactly why," Izumi Ako said, taking another small bite from her sandwich. "Apparently they'll be away for a while on some errand, so Akira asked me to excuse her to Negi-sensei through the afternoon..."

"Aaaaaahhhh," Sasaki Makie said, pulling her head back so she'd look at the sky, "She did it again! I don't like this, that girl's taking Akira-chan away from us! Now I'm starting to understand how Madoka feels..."

"It's kind of even worse," the normally extremely kind Ako said, with a small frown. "I wouldn't mind that much if she were hanging out with Negi-kun, but a girl from another class...?"

"Come on, guys," Yuuna groaned, "we aren't Akira's owners! What if she wants to find herself another friend? It's not like she's gonna forget us! She lives with you, for Pete's sake, Ako-chan!"

"But that girl is a flirt, and I don't like her!" Ako pouted, as Makie nodded firmly and with great airs of faux wisdom. "And Akira-chan is too innocent for her own good..."

Then a tall, very busty woman with milky pale skin and the wavy white hair to match approached them, looking at them with large red eyes that, while very beautiful and serene, were also slightly creepy in how little they blinked. The woman, overall, as Yuuna noticed, was strangely like a living doll, much like Chachamaru, but in a way that was less warm and, while more organical and far less mechanical, also much more antinatural. Or maybe she was just seeing things where there weren't any, after the last couple of days?

"Excuse me, please," this stranger said, after taking a moment to verify there wasn't anyone else in the immediate vicinity. Next, she stared straight at Yuuna, and asked, "Are you Emiya Shirou's next-door neighbor?"

"Uuuuhhhh, yeah, what's with that?" Yuuna asked, feeling a small trickling sensation at the back of her neck, one both warning her to run away and warning her it'd be totally useless to do so. "Who wants to know?"

The woman bowed very deeply. "I am Leysritt, a humble vassal under the commands of Emiya Shirou's sister. I have come to take you to her."

Yuuna blinked. "Miyu-chan? Since when does Miyu-chan have any servants, I mean, vassals?"

"What is a vassal?" Makie asked.

Leysritt shook her head. "I don't represent the interests of, and I strictly quote my mistress on the topic, any unworthy dogs pretending affiliation with the Emiya name. I come in the name of Mister Emiya's older sister."

A question mark appeared over Yuuna's head. "Tiger-sensei? But she loves Miyu-chan dearly, she'd never call her a dog..."

Leysritt paused, then added, sounding slightly tired of making herself clear by now, "I don't represent the interests of, and I strictly quote my mistress on the topic, any hysterical old women passing themselves as caretakers for any of the Emiyas, either. I am here under orders of Lady Illyasviel von Einzbern. You will come with me to her castle in the woods."

Yuuna, Ako and Makie all blinked cluelessly at this, then stared at each other in a baffled silence.

Leysritt half sighed, wondering if this was how Sella felt all the time. "Please forgive me. I'm going to kidnap you," she said, and rushed the girls over.

A short while later, shortly before the bells rang to mark the return from lunch break, a much similar woman, but with shorter and straighter hair, a much flatter bust, and more human and emotional eyes, approached Shirou and Issei while they ate together.

"Emiya Shirou?" she asked, stopping before him, and he felt Saber's presence shifting alertly behind him.

"Yes, that' me," the redhaired boy looked up, blinking. "Excuse me, I don't think I've had the pleasure, Miss...?"

"Sella," she dryly introduced herself. "Please come with me, there is something we need to discuss in private."

"Oh..." Shirou frowned. "Excuse me, but maybe you could leave your phone number and I'd call you after classes..."

The woman shook her head. "I'm afraid this matter must be dealt with immediately."

Issei sighed. "Don't worry, Shirou. If it takes long, I'll try covering for you to Sensei..."

"Uh... Well, thank you, Issei," Shirou nodded, following Sella a couple of blocks' distance, until they stood in an old lot apart from eavesdroppers. "Listen, if this is about that bar jump back then, my family's policy is to-"

"We have kidnapped Akashi Yuuna, Izumi Ako, and Sasaki Makie," Sella curtly told him, making Saber materialize right behind him with a seeth of warrior anxiety and a psychotic glint in the eyeholes of her helm, moving around to level her sword at the pale homunculus, who did not even blink. "I feel I also must inform you that, while I am easily replaceable, any failure of mine to return to our headquarters will result in the execution of one of the prisoners. Master hates wasting valuable resources into creating new vassals as long as there are others available for the task, I will let you know."

"What?!" Shirou gasped, while suddenly snapping from his shock enough as to gesture for Saber to stand back. "Yuuna-chan, Ako-chan and Makie-chan?!" he yelled, then sobered and asked, scowling, "But, who are Izumi Ako and Sasaki Makie?"

Sella shrugged. "I'm just relating the news I was given by my partner in this mission. You are invited to come to their rescue in the ancient Einzbern Castle in the mountain woods." While saying this, she emotionlessly handed him a folded map, which a stunned Shirou accepted with stiff hands. "There you will engage in deadly combat against Master's unbeatable Servant, the mighty Berserker, and also probably partake in several colorful minigames. However, you are to attend this invitation alone with your Servant. Bringing anyone else will result in the instant execution of all three prisoners."

"That... That's just fiendish!" Shirou screamed. "What kind of depraved, vile, repulsive man is your Master?!"

"She is your adorable long forgotten older sister, Mister Emiya," Sella said, just as flat in delivery as ever.

Shirou's eyes shrank to black dots. "... what."

Saber sighed, shaking her head. "See? Family, always ruining things, it's what I always say!" Then she addressed Sella directly, waving the blade at her. "Tell your Master we will be there on the double, pawn! Fast, or else I will cut you down! Tell her Saber doesn't ever run away from a challenge, and that today is the day she and her Servant die! Mwa ha ha ha ha!"

"... older sister?" Shirou faintly repeated.

Sella nodded. "Should I include the 'Mwa ha ha ha ha'?"

" **Especially** the magnificent 'Mwa ha ha ha ha', woman!" Saber boasted.

"I shall do so. Thanks for your time," Sella said, nodding and then quickly running out of sight, accelerating and esentially flashing out of sight as soon as she was far enough.

Saber grinned to herself, slamming her clanking fists together. "Yes! I will begin my victorious campaign by besting the brute, Berserker! What better way of striking fear into Father's heart? I will drag the savage's corpse before him, as proof of my superiority before finishing him as well! Aren't you excited, Shirou?"

"My-" Shirou was still babbling, but then shook his head and cleared his thoughts off, clenching his fists. "Okay! I don't know what's going on here, or why I have another sister, or who are Ako and Makie! But they are people to rescue, and rescues are what heroes of justice do best! Saber, you are a hero of justice, aren't you?!"

"Um, well, yes, technically, I am an antihero, but as long as I believe my brutal cause of bloody personal retribution is fair and noble, then I- Of course I'm a Hero of Justice, what kind of stupid question is that, dolt?!"

"Then we'll go, right now! To Einzbern Castle!" Shirou growled, unfolding the map and looking at it... then grimacing deeply, as Saber got a look at it as well.

"Was this thing drawn on _**crayons?!**_ " Saber asked, disbelieving.

"I... I think this might take a little bit longer than I thought..." Emiya confessed.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late!" the tall, gorgeous, black haired Ookuchi Akira apologized eagerly, rushing back into Junior High 3-A classroom with a noticeable blush on her cheeks. "I know I shouldn't have absented myself, Negi-sensei, Iinchou, but, as Ako-chan told you-!"

Negi Springfield blinked, stopping writing the English lesson of that afternoon on the blackboard, and staring back at Akira, much like the rest of the class but the napping Evangeline "Ako-san?" he asked. "But, we thought she, Yuuna-san and Makie-san would be with you, Akira-san?"

Meanwhile, Shirou trudged up a narrow and treacherous mountain road, with Saber walking behind him, consulting on his crudely drawn map and frowned as he pointed, up and ahead. "Okay," he said, "after a lot of thinking on the meaning of these geographical designs, the fact this structure stands in the middle of these woods, so uniquely as to have no local equal, makes me think this has to be our destination."

"Oh, Heavens," Saber said sarcastically, staring up at the gigantic European castle standing before them, and formerly well hidden by the lush thickness of those wildlands. "I'm sure glad my Master is a man of such peerless brilliance!"

Shirou scoffed. "Look, I know you must be thinking me an idiot for running directly into such an obvious trap, but-"

"What?" Saber said. "No, no, not me! Why would I think something like that?! I mean, I get why others would, but it's right what I'd do, too! What's the point of trying strategy when you don't have a way of knowing the battleground, and when you will fight a Berserker to boot? What's a Berserker going to do, outthink you? No, a Berserker will use raw strenght, and so you have to beat them at their own game! And if we'd called that Caster for backup, odds are she'd just betray us, I can tell. If I called you an idiot it's just because you state the obvious too much."

"Will that be okay, though?" Shirou worried, keeping the boken he'd borrowed from the Kendo Club before coming tightly in hand, already Reinforced. "You said you would need more mana to move than I can provide..."

"That's mostly something I said so Caster won't suspect my real strenght until it's too late for her," his Servant boasted. "It's true you need to become a better mana supplier, but I'm sure I can fight just fine by this point. The real question is, now, what are we supposed to do be given access?" she wondered, looking up at the tall, wide, closed gates of the sinister fortress. "Should I just break them down, or do you think that's too risky?"

"The latter, definitely!" Shirou said, then called out, "Hey, you in there! It's me, Emiya Shirou! I came as you asked me to!"

"Despite having to figure out a map drawn on crayons first!" Saber added her shout.

There was no answer at first.

Shirou rubbed his chin. "Maybe we got the wrong humongous castle in the woods after all...?"

"Oh, for God's sake!" Saber growled. "How many castles can there be in this forsaken piece of shit island?!" she moved ahead and began violently slamming a foot on the doors, howling her challenge. "Berserker, come out and face your death like the mad dog you are! If there's something I hate, that's reckless loose cannons abandoning themselves to their rage! Come out so I can gut you out like a pathetic insane beast!"

Shirou sweatdropped. "Maybe I have the Berserker right here with me after all..." he quietly told himself.

The doors slowly went open with a rusty, metallic and long pitched creak, and Saber and Shirou leapt back, prepared to do combat. Out stepped Leystritt, keeping both hands folded before herself and bowing delicately. "Good afternoon, Emiya Shirou and Servant," she humbly greeted. "I am Leysritt, Sella's sister. Please come with me, Illya is waiting for you."

"Uhhhh... Thank you? It's a pleasure, really..." Shirou doubted.

"Ah, I get it. You wish for a duel indoors!" Saber said, as she and Shirou followed the white skinned maiden inside, the doors coming closed again behind themselves. "No doubt you believe you have just shut the jaws of the trap after us, but you haven't locked me with you, you have just locked yourselves with me..."

"My apologies, but I can't confirm or deny the accuracy of your statement," Leysritt said, guiding them down long hallways decorated with ancient suits of armor and large portraits of severe old men with strong noses, ornate robes, red eyes, and long hair as pale as their flesh. "It is not my role to call the strategy for this duel, that will befall upon Illya and Berserker."

Saber chuckled. "A Berserker, thinking of strategy? It is to laugh!"

Leysritt finally led them to a huge room, strikingly similar to a throneroom, at the end of which sat a tiny albino girl with long silver hair, wearing tall boots, a dark purple blouse of long sleeves, and a knee-lenght white skirt, on a comfortable and wide couch. By her side stood Sella, dutiful and expressionless. "Ah, Emiya Shirou, face to face at last," purred the little girl, crossing her legs in a way that would have been seductive in an older woman, but only managed making Shirou feel uneasy as it was. "The son of Emiya Kiritsugu, Magus Killer! And now you'll fall to a magus, what a precious irony! Wait a moment, please, let me laugh at it before we continue! Oh ho ho, oh ho, oh ho ho!" she laughed haughtily, taking a little hand to her mouth. "That was a nice, ironic, laugh of superiority, wasn't it? I'm sure the scion of certain other families from Europe could learn a lot from me..."

"Ummm, good afternoon, Ojou-chan, pleased to meet you too," Shirou said, even more uncomfortable now. "Sorry we can't stop and play right now, but I was told by Sella-san here my older sister, of whom I knew nothing before today, would be waiting for me here, if you could please call her..."

"I am your older sister!" the little girl indignantly said, hopping from her seat with a hand on her chest. "Illyasviel von Einzbern herself!"

"Ah!" Saber said. "A dwarf!"

 _"I'm not a dwarf, you impertinent horned monstrosity!"_

Shirou just frowned. "No, seriously, Ojou-chan, just call her over, please? Good little girls shouldn't lie, and there's no way you could be any older than twelve..."

"I am eighteen, you idiot!" Illya snapped.

"Yeah, sure, 'everyone in this game is eighteen years of age or older'," Shirou quoted, then blushed as everyone in the room, Saber included, stared intently at him. "Or, um, that's something I overheard in passing once, from, ah, Shinji! It's not like I've ever played- Look, if you got the reference, you aren't that innocent either! Even you, for shame!" he chided Illya. "So young and yet knowing about that kind of things, what will your mom think...!"

"Don't feel too bad over her lost innocence, Shirou, I'm still convinced she's a dwarf," Saber said.

 _"I'm not a dwarf, I simply have a case of Magical Systemic Hypoplasia!"_ Illya shrieked.

* * *

"Oboy," Makie said as they sat in the darkness of the dungeon. "This will really put a dent on my plans to get that license."

Actually, saying it was darkness might be an exaggeration. The room was decently well lit, just not too much by mere virtue of being a room inside of an old fortress built by people who originally had not had much use for electricity and wiring. And it was a stretch of sorts calling it a dungeon, too, even if Illya had labeled it as such; the true dungeons were in the basement, but Sella and Leysritt had lost the keys, so Illya had settled for locking them up in this room that was boring, but not all that unpleasant. It even had a few magazines lying around, even if they were from a decade ago.

Ako frowned, flipping through the one she had picked up. "Why women back then had such bad taste in hairstyles?" she wondered aloud before the room's door was opened from the inside, and in strode the smirking little devil who had taunted them upon arrival, followed by her two maids, and...

"Sempai!" Yuuna cried out, throwing herself into the open arms of a softly smiling Shirou. "Oh, I'd never been so glad to see you! Oh, and you're here as well, Saber-san," she added more detachedly, looking at the Servant by Shirou's side.

"Well, yes, since I didn't have anything better to do..." Saber replied.

Shirou patted Yuuna's shoulders and stepped away from her, under Illya's frowning glare. He approached the other two girls and asked them, "Sooooo... are you Ako and Makie?"

"Yeah!" Makie beamed happily, raising a hand. "I'm Sasaki Makie! You must be Emiya-sempai, the guy from the bar jump, right?"

"Izumi Ako, thanks for coming for us, Sempai," Ako bowed her head. "I don't understand what's going on, but Yuuna-chan has told us about you..."

"Yeah, and I always tell him about you guys too!" Yuuna smiled. "Don't I, Sempai?"

"No, he had no idea whatsoever who were those two until we came here," Saber bluntly stated.

"Ah?!" Makie cried out while Illya rolled her eyes and tapped her foot down on the background. "Yuuna-chan!"

"I have, though!" Yuuna protested. "Sempai, you know I talk about them all the time in the car!"

"W-Well," Shirou scratched himself on a cheek, looking aside, "you know my memory isn't that excellent, I mean, I remember how you'd talk about Akira-san, but..."

"Akira is your favorite?!" Makie told Yuuna.

"Well, duh!" a now annoyed Yuuna said. "Isn't she yours, too?!"

"Ah, well, she is, but...!"

"She is my favorite too, I have to admit..." Ako said bashfully, looking at the floor before asking Saber, "Excuse me, Sir, and your name is...?"

"I am the lethal Saber!" the Servant growled. "Heroic Spirit of the Sword! I have come to this decrepit castle to slay the evil beast that dwells in it! Berserker, that most primitive of heroes! They shall fall before my blade so I can lay my hands on the Holy Grail!"

"...!" Makie and Ako stared at her, suddenly hugging each other and having backed away until their backs touched the other end of the room.

Shirou sighed. "It's okay. S... He comes with me, and he means well... I think..."

"Okay, enough of that!" Illya pouted and clapped, walking out the dungeon and gesturing for the others to follow her down a long flight of stairs sculpted on the bedrock. "Shirou, at first I thought of paying Father's home a visit, but then I thought better. After all, I'm an aristocrat and shouldn't be seen in the company of my lessers. So I arranged for Leysritt and Sella to invite you to enjoy my hospitality instead. As you can see, as I promised, I didn't touch a single hair on the ladies' heads, since you came here under the stipulated terms. I'm glad to see you are, at the very least, a fellow person of your word."

"I don't get it." Makie said this so often it might as well have been her catchphrase, but this time it was truer than ever. "What are you to this Sempai, Illya-chan? I can call you Illya-chan, right?"

"No, you can't," Illya said.

"Then how should I call you?" Makie asked.

"I'd rather have you never addressing me at all," Illya confessed. "As for your query, I suppose it is valid. I am the first child of Emiya Kiritsugu the Magus Killer and Irisviel von Einzbern, heiress to the Einzbern clan. Ten years ago, I was left behind by my parents, who never returned to me. I could have forgiven my mother, who apparently died shortly after her arrival to these lands, but I never could forgive the man who left me after so many loving promises!" she gestured grandly, and Makie discreetly glanced at Ako, twirling a pointer finger several times around her ear. "That is why I swore I'd destroy the two inferior children he sired with God knows who in this barren excuse for a country."

"Actually," Shirou said, "just for the record, Miyu-chan and I are adopted..."

"Adopted?!" Illya shrilled, stopping and turning furiously back to him. "That... That only makes it worse, you ginger monkey! To think he'd reject me, his own flesh and blood, for two strays he picked off some filthy street...!" she shuddered in visible outrage, her pale face turning crimson. "Unforgivable, that's just plain impossible to ever forgive...!"

"I feel your pain, kid," Saber sympathized. "Parents are a bitch like that. I'll tell you what, maybe you should just let me kill this Berserker of yours and take me as your Servant? Berserkers are useless after all, you'd do much better with a-"

 _ **"Saber!"**_ Shirou and Yuuna growled at once.

"Fuh!" Illya fumed, as they finally reached the bottom of the stairs, leading them into a huge round arena. "This is where you will face my Servant, Saber. Berserker!" she called out, clapping again. "Kill this ugly walking tin can and then this unsightly boy!"

 _ **"Yes!"** _the Amazonian beauty appeared out of invisibility then, startling Ako and Makie to the point of screaming, and growled _**"Achilles!"**_ swinging her massive chain and spiked ball at Saber, who welcomed the attack with a deranged chuckle echoing through her helm.

Illya put her hands together and smiled placidly. "The Amazons were the most feared army in Greece. You face their queen, a daughter of Ares, God of War, Saber. There is no way your pedigree can compare to hers."

"I will let my pedigree speak on its own!" Saber swore, leaping back from the ball that had just smashed where she had just stood, opening a gigantic crater on the floor. Then she took an impulse on her heels and leapt forward, to meet the charge of the incoherently screaming Berserker rushing to meet her heads on. _"I don't fear you, animal...!"_

 _"SABER!"_ Shirou shouted, alarmed, and then-

* * *

"Howdy theeeere, Sa-ku-ra-chaaaaaan!" merrily greeted the girl who looked just like her but with much longer hair, skipping from around the corner as if the encounter had been casual. Someone paying more attention to her speech might have felt the strange need to somehow imagine a heart emoticon attached at the end of her sentence, but as it was, Sakura was only too startled by the sudden run-in to do anything but stopping and gasping.

"M-Moon Cancer-san!" the girl trembled, even though her mirror self's expression kept on being a wide, pleasant smile. "Wh-What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, you know how it is!" Moon Cancer said, matter of factly, shrugging and tossing a hand around in a circle. "Shinji-kun wanted me to be good for something and patrol for other Servants, so that's what I'm doing, it helps that unlike others, I can pass for a perfectly normal girl!"

"B-But you still shouldn't be seen in public!" Sakura stammered, looking in all directions, although the closest visible person was passing by two blocks away and minding their own business, not looking at them before disappearing down another street. "Especially if we're seen together, Grandfather will be furious!"

"We always can say I'm your sister," Moon Cancer said mischievously, throwing an arm around Sakura's shoulders and moving her down the sidewalk with herself, towards the Matou house. "You'd like having a sister, wouldn't you, Sakura-chan? Well, now you have three! And I could introduce you to even more, should things work out fine, that is. A big happy family of Sakuras, a large tree in full bloom!"

Sakura looked down. "I... I'm thankful for having you around, of course, but... Grandfather told me I shouldn't attach myself to you, you're Oniisama's Servants now..."

"Oh, come on, Sakura-chan!" Moon Cancer prodded her shoulder. "I'll let you into something, true control over a Servant doesn't come from Command Seals, much less from this," with her other hand she made a motion of flipping a book's pages in a pompous, stuffy fashion, so much like Shinji's that Sakura briefly felt a smile tugging at her lips. "For us, it's easy to work around those. It's like trying to put reigns on the wind. Only very stupid Servants will fall for those."

"Then, what-"

"Ahhhh, for true control, you want a communion with the Servant you are bonded with," Moon Cancer interrupted, wagging a finger. "Do you know why your grandpa's so upset?"

"Of course I do," Sakura quietly said. "I failed to summon the Gorgon."

"And what did you get in trade?" the Servant smirked, almost nuzzling her face against Sakura's neck.

Sakura felt herself heating inside, the clsoe contact with someone so similar to her somehow prickling the worms squirming inside into a peak frenzy. She unesaily crossed her legs and rubbed them together quickly as Moon Cancer all but dragged her along, holding her steady. "Y-Y-You, naturally..."

"And we," Moon Cancer completed, "are you, in a way. That much is obvious. That is the real reason why Gramps is furious. We have shown him you are much more than he would give you credit for, and he knows that made you realize it, too."

"That, that..." Sakura stammered, "is wrong, Moon Cancer-san... You are you, and our resemblance must be a coincidence, but there's no way an useless girl like me..."

"Call me BB," BB breathed warmly on her cheek, all but blowing enticingly on it. "And do you know what those two letters mean?"

"N-No... How could I..."

 _"Black Blossom..."_ the Servant said, as the hand on Sakura's shoulder tightened its grasp on it.

 _"Bu-ra-kku..."_ Sakura gulped, remembering her English lessons, _"Bu-ro-ssumu..."_

BB shrugged. "You need more practice, but yeah, basically! Think about it, Sakura-chan. I'm sure you will eventually get it. In the meanwhile, tell me, about this Gorgon, the Medusa."

"Y-Yes? What about her, by now it's a moot point, you were summoned already..."

"Oh, I know, I know! But, would you have been happy with her as your Servant? Would you feel more comfortable with a Servant who is not literally you... or what you don't want to see about yourself?"

"That, that doesn't matter either way, I'm not fit to hold Servants, all of them would go to Oniisama..."

BB sighed in exasperation. "A slow learner if I've ever seen one!"

This show of contempt, suddenly and for some reason, finally made something within Sakura kick in, and when she next spoke, she was irritated, as well. "Of course I'd have liked having a Servant of mine, anything to call my own, really, but if it can't be anyway, why do you feel like torturing me so? Why to tease me with honors I'll never have? What have I ever done to-"

"Aaaaand that's what I wanted to learn, see how it wasn't that hard?" BB was sweet again, placing a fingertip on Sakura's lips. They had all but reached the old manor, and BB let go of her at last, smiling and flipping a happy salute. "Well, I've gotta keep doing this thing, so I'll leave you to our own thing, and I'll see if I can do something to help you with that other thing! You didn't see me, I didn't talk with you, I've been working hard all day long for Shin-chan with no breaks, okay?"

Sakura blinked at this latest bout of strangeness from the Servant who now walked backwards away from her, but ended up just waving at her. "Ahhhh... Okay, thank you for that... thing. I'm sorry, I'm sorry if I sounded pushy, if you want to be friends I-"

But BB already had disappeared in the ether.

Sakura shuddered, then entered the house, for once without any hesitation for even what was inside was less unnerving than Moon Cancer. As she went up the stairs to her bedroom, she saw one of the Alter Egos, the small and slim one, making the rounds across the house, and taking a second to stare angrily at her, as if threatening her with her eyes. Sakura trembled again and rushed up, quickly locking herself in her room, only to find Shinji sitting on her bed, reduced to his underwear.

"Oniisama," she breathed out.

He glared up at her, not that distinctly from how Meltlilith did it. "You're late again."

"I... I'm sorry, Oniisama, I was just going to leave my schoolbag here, and then I'll go, I'll cook din-"

"I'm not hungry," he growled, getting up and beginning to rip her skirt down her legs. Even for him, he was being rough, as if taking out on he what he couldn't do on something else.

All the same, the worms boiled and partied inside of her, gnawing and demanding for release, and Sakura surrendered to them. She grabbed Shinji's cheeks between her hands and pulled him to herself, mashing her lips against his as his hands moved up, undoing her pink bra and firmly holding onto her large breasts even as they poked free, his fingers pinching on the hard nipples.

Down below, Meltlilith hissed and growled, dragging her stilletto legs against the mansion's floor, leaving scratch marks all over them.

* * *

They clashed as brutally as expected, with Saber getting a cut through one of Berserker's shoulders, and Berserker taking hold of Saber's neck, exerting each inch of her monstruous strenght to try and twist it around. The armor mostly protected her from this, much as the thick muscle prevented the blade from going too deep, but now in close quarters, and with Berserker having gotten a steady hold on Saber, the advantage had fallen on the mostly exposed warrior.

Berserker wrestled Saber down to the dirt, snarling savagely onto her face and starting to strangle her. "Saber, no!" Shirou shouted, trying to leap into the arena, only to be held by Leysritt from behind.

"Did you ever think this would be a harmless sport, Brother?" Illya taunted him, pointing to the pool of blood gathering under the combatants as Berserker bashed Saber's head down repeteadly. "How naive...! If the middle brother is like this, the little sister will be a cakewalk, tee hee...!"

"Why are you so bloodthirsty...?!" the livid Shirou asked, even as Saber kicked Berserker off herself, rubbing her throat for a moment and struggling back up, supporting herself on the sword. Berserker flipped back to a standing position easily and, true to form, jumped on her again without any prior consideration. "Why do you blame us on anything, we didn't even have any idea you existed!"

"Even if that's true, the children must still pay for the sins of their fathers," Illya solemnly said. "That is something Grandfather taught me well."

"Die, damn you..." Saber growled, stabbing her sword through Berserker's breastplate, in an attempt to get to her heart, but the metal had been forged in such a way, and from such origins, the sword got stuck there, its tip barely sinking into the Amazon's flesh. Berserker grunted and slapped her, sending her flying away from her, and then pulled the blade out of herself, throwing it aside while not paying any attention to her bleeding wound.

"Dammit, girl, you've gotta stop this!" Yuuna told Illya, as she and Makie held the downed Ako and fanned her face, attempting to revive her unconscious friend, who had fainted at the first sight of blood. "You're going too far now...!"

"On the contrary, I'm only starting. I'm not satisfied in the slightest yet," Illya coldly said. "Berserker! Taking too long! Finish him now!"

 _ **"Achilles!"**_ Berserker roared, swinging with a mighty arm at Saber, who ducked and rolled under it, making a dive for her dropped blade. It was successful, and she regained hold of it right in time as to swing at Berserker while the larger woman dropped onto her, slamming a fist down on her face so badly it dented the helmet inwards, in a way that made Shirou, Yuuna and Makie sure she had just had her face and skull caved in. At the same time, Saber got another cub through Berserker's exposed ribs, but the Amazon kept on seething and hissing on top of her while the armored knight just lied motionless.

"Penthesilea, Queen of the Warrior Women," Illya smirked gleefully. "An expert on open warfare against the best champions of men. Survived even a battle against Heracles, son of Zeus, himself. She only could be felled by an invulnerable man! You made your mistake by bringing a man to fight her, Emiya Shi-"

"Not just any man!" Saber roared, reviving and pushing Berserker off herself, so strongly that she made her fly upwards, as concentrated mana burst through the body in the armor and surged up, flaring and burning into a renewed battle frenzy. She sprang back to her feet as Berserker hit the ground with a thud, and leveled her blade at her, growling. "The best of men under an undefeatable army! By leaving them, I sapped their strenght away! By opposing them, I sealed their fate! Men or women alike, it doesn't matter! As long as you oppose my rage, you shall perish! Even your fury is nothing compared to mine! Berserker!"

Penthesilea drooled like the insane beast she had been reduced to, eyeing Saber with bloodshot eyes as the horned warrior pulled the now deformed helmet off their head, since it had been twisted too much to be anything but a liability already. Blonde hair was tossed around and proud green eyes sparkled. Saber's revealed face was covered in bruises and soaked in her own gore, but still retained a majestic beauty that was unmistakably feminine, even if a bit androgynous. This seemed to mildly baffle Berserker through the haze of her savagism, but after a short pause, she only roared again, hands clawing before herself. Saber acknowledged this with a smirk. "So it makes no difference to you either. I commend that, sister..."

"Uwaaaa! So cute!" Makie gushed. "I mean, other than all the blood and that...!"

Illya herself was mildly impressed. "... well," she said after a moment. "I am really intrigued by who your Servant is now, Brother. I think I will torture you for that info are we're done here. Berserker!" she clapped. "Your Queen commands you, Noble Phantasm!"

It was not an order expressed through a Command Seal, despite the phrasing. As long as Berserker held her faith on this little girl as the successor to Hippolyta, those would not be needed. Flexing her muscles back, she shook and howled, " _"U... Uaaaaa! Aaaa... Uuaaaaa... Kill, kill, KILL!"_

"Saber, be careful!" Shirou screamed at the top of his lungs, still held from behind by Sella and Leysritt. "Let me go, damn it, you two...!"

Saber chuckled raspily, a faint reddish aura starting to appear around her. "So it comes down to this. So be it. I don't care. Nobody will be left a witness, so it doesn't matter whether I show this or not." Moving the sword down and channeling the energy into it, manifesting it as flames blazing around its edges, she muttered, " _"This for sure will be the wicked blade that will destroy my father..."_

Berserker, meanwhile, exploded into an even bigger combat frenzy, propelling herself towards Saber as if surrounding herself all over with hellish flames. " _ **Outrage Amazon**! UuuuuUU, uUUUUUU! ...ACHILLESSS! ...FuaA...!"_

 ** _"Clarent Blood Arthur!"_** Saber shouted just as manly, raising the sword, which became all black and red all over, and summoned blood and lightning from above onto it, blowing holes through the upper levels of the castle. Shirou and the Mahora girls yelped, overcame by the ghastly vision, as Saber brought the sword down, unleashing all of this gathered power on Berserker even as the feral Amazon reached her, and both forces collided in a gigantic maelstrom of fire.

Shirou screamed, feeling a great pain ripple across him, flowing from the heart and his hand, and he rattled in the maids' arms, fainting even as everyone watching over the fight, and Ako, were sent flying back, bowling over each other, and Saber and Berserker were thrown off each other, the Berserker taking the worst part as she was literally blasted many feet into a stone wall, leaving her twisted and twitching, stuck in the rock foundations, bleeding copiously.

Yet Saber was not in a much better form; while her attack had been more successful, she had less endurance to withstand the opponent's barrage of instant blows within her fire, far less damage absortion than the maddened Amazon, and so she had collapsed onto a bleeding heap that regardless, still stubborly squirmed and struggled to get back up, pulling herself on the damned sword that was returning slowly to its original colors. "Do you want..." she coughed up thick splurts of red, "... more of that... bitch...?"

"I can't believe it," was everything that Makie could mouth off quietly, blowing dust and debris off her face with the hand not still tending to Ako, and Yuuna couldn't agree any more. Even Saber's earlier battle against the other Saber had been nothing compared to this, but it was clear, as Berserker staggered back out of her hole, that neither of the Servants was in any condition to fight anymore. So, now what...

Illya smiled with narrowed eyes, held her fist up, and thought of her first Command Seal as it burned on her, executing her absolute will. "Berserker," she softly asked. "Heal back, right now, so we may finish this at once."

* * *

A miracle happened then, right before the unbelieving eyes of Shirou, Yuuna and Makie. Berserker stood upright and shook, while her wounds all healed in the blink of an eye, her perfectly fit physique regaining its flawless beauty even before they could process what was going on.

Shirou himself was just starting to come back to his senses, and he groaned, "Sa... ber..." while trying to reach for her. Berserker had already covered the distance separating them in a couple of forceful strides, and grabbed her by the blonde hair, slamming her face down against the cracked ground, and then grinding it with augmented savagery. "Saber...!" Shirou screamed, finally pulling free from the maids, and only managing to cover a few steps before his still wobbly legs collapsed under him.

 _ **"Achilles...!"**_ Berserker howled, pulling Saber back up and headbutting her, a moment before Saber smirked wearily and shoved two metal fingers into her eyes, forcing her to drop her. _**"Agh...!"**_

"You... must be mistaking me with someone else, sister," Saber coughed, trying to measure her up with her blade. "Don't think your eyesight will improve anything with that, but-"

Eyes bleeding but still functional, Berserker bellowed and lunged back for her, receiving only a weak stab on a side as she grabbed Saber again and began pummeling her furiously, over and over, hammering her down to her knees. _**"Kneel! Kneel! KNEEEEEL!"**_

"Saber... no..." Shirou gurgled.

Illya approved with a nod and smile. "Do it, Berserker. Finish her! Fatality! Show no mercy on-"

"Mistress!" Sella shouted abruptly. "Look out!"

"Ah?" Illya blinked, and then shrieked, as a rain of bolts and blasts fell on them from an upper section of the castle. It was concentrated all on Illya, who had come to stand away from the others, further ahead to behold Berserker's triumph, but moving faster than her counterpart, Sella had jumped up to intercept most of the barrage dropping on the small homunculus, receiving impacts all over her body, pieces of white cloth and bleeding flesh flying from her as she was all but drilled through from all sides. Illya yelled in pain as two stray projectiles of concentrated magic Sella hadn't been able to block hit her, one in an arm, the other on the opposite leg, drawing blood as well and forcing her to fall sitting down, whining loudly even as her maid dropped by her side, grievously wounded but still moving. "Ahhhhhh! Ah, it hurts, it hurts so much...! Who...?!"

 _ **"Queen!"**_ Berserker gasped, immediately dropping Saber and leaping to her fallen Master's side, cradling her against herself with incredible tenderness and care. However, the rage returned a moment later, as she stared up to the two figures slowly descending onto the arena. One of them a hooded female, and the other...

"Daddy!" Forgetting everything else, Yuuna left Ako and Makie behind and rushed past everyone else, jumping into the arms of her grimacing father, who held her firmly against himself. His wand aimed directly at the seething Illya and Berserker. "Oh Daddy, thank God you're here, I-!"

"I'll handle this, Illya," Leysritt offered herself, dashing ahead with her halberd, but before she could swing it on the newcomers, Saber had, against all expectations, moved in a flash to block her way, twisting her sword around and slicing Leysritt's armed arm cleanly off her shoulder. The maid came to a silent halt, only watching her severed limb roll across the dirt before turning her eyes to the bleeding stump. "Oh my," she quietly said, "this might prove being an inconvenience."

Saber kicked her in the the stomach and sent her flying back.

"Caster!" Shirou coughed, getting back up to his feet. Sella sprang back to life despite her injuries and tried to leap onto him, but he turned around and whacked her on the face with his reinforced boken, then hit her again when she kept on advancing on him, and finally, as Makie pulled out a long pink gymnastic ribbon out of her sleeve and swung it around Sella's legs, the maid lost her balance and fell flat on her back. Shirou grunted, moved onto her, and slammed the boken on her one last time, knocking her unconscious. He looked back at Makie and nodded, huffing. "Thank you."

Makie shrugged her shoulders. "I do what I can!"

"So," Illya venomously told Caster, a hand gripping on Berserker's arm to keep her in place. "You are that girl's Servant..."

"This place has very good defenses. But not good enough for me," Caster flatly told her. "I'm sure you will reinforce them after this either way... but that is only if I allow you to live. Which I won't," she finished, outstretching a hand before her and-

"Caster, no!" Shirou shouted.

Illya chuckled grisly. "Listen to him, Caster. Do you really think you can blast me before Berserker has separated your head from your body...?"

"What... What is going on, I had a nightmare that I..." Ako stirred back to life, blinking through her cobwebs and confusion, and then getting a more or less clear view of what was going on before her, in a tense standstill. "Oh, it's still on," she decided, dropping back and closing her eyes again. "I think I'll wake up later then."

Illya breathed in and out laboriously. "I will tell you what will happen, now," she informed the others. "Berserker will kill you all before you can mount a defense. But that will still probably take long enough we will bleed to death, and Berserker will disappear. Hence... no one will be left to avenge themselves on this witch's Master," she coughed, starting to apply a healing spell on herself, and cursing herself for not studying more on them when she had the chance. Still too slow to work while stalling them, she would need more time...

Her mind made up, she capitulated. Of sorts. "Go. All of you. You have earned a reprieve. The father and his daughter, especially, I won't ever bother them again."

"Ah?" Makie asked, already propelling Ako up against herself, with a strenght not common on high school girls that petite. "Why Yuuna-chan and not us?!"

"Do I see **your** father here?!" Illya snapped at her, then motioned with a hand for them to leave. "Stop dirtying my beautiful castle with your presence, before I change my mind. If Caster knows the way in, she also can take you out."

"I can," Caster nodded icily. "Farewell then, until our next encounter, Sister of Miyu-sama."

"So that's her name, huh..." Illya's anger bubbled, even as Akashi-sensei gathered the girls and a hesitating Shirou who wouldn't stop looking at Illya's prone form, biting on his lower lip. The boy still protested even as Caster and the teacher pulled him along with themselves up the stairs, Saber going back to to her spiritual form to keep her remaining energies.

Before too long, they had disappeared from Illya's sight.

"Idiot..." Illya grouched, half sleepily, while Sella and Leysritt helped each other to stand as well as they possibly could under the circumstances, bleeding all over the ground.

"And to think we'll have to clean this afterwards..." Leysritt mused contemplatively, looking down.

"You should have let me kill them, my Queen," Berserker said then, softly, cradling her in her strong arms and rocking her back and forth like a mother.

Illya shook her head. "Today, for the first time... I have seen a father really loving his daughter. That is... enough for me to call this a good day..."

Night was starting to fall, and rain was also beginning over the woods surrounding the Einzbern Castle.

* * *

Saber rested on Shirou's bed now, covered up to her chest in white blankets. Her armor had been taken off, and so she lied in the skimpy red garments with black highlights she had been wearing under it, pouting and fuming at the attentions of those around her. Miyu sat on a small chair by her bedside, applying her hands on her and whispering prayers, while Shirou tried to spoonfeed her from a bowl of admittedly delicious pudding. Caster stood slightly aside, smirking to herself, while Akashi-sensei was discussing something with his daughter, Ako and Makie, by the door. Taiga stood right behind Shirou, holding onto his shoulders with her hands as if never meaning to let go.

"How did you find us anyway?" Saber grumbled after another mouthful from Shirou's pudding. "It was Caster's doing, wasn't it?"

Caster nodded. "Miyu-sama, wise for her years, asked me to keep surveillance on you, which I did though one of my spy familiars. It is thanks to her you draw breath yet."

"Miyu-chan...!" Shirou paused, blinking at the black haired child.

Miyu opened her eyes and gifted him with a little warm smile. "Don't mention it, Oniisama. If it's for you sake, I-"

"Yeah, yeah, that's very heartwarming and all," Saber grumbled, "But, did you have your critters trained on us the whole time, Caster? Even when Shirou was in the toilet and he told me to keep out?!"

"Ah, what was that?!" Taiga yelled while Shirou blushed.

Caster nodded. "That was very unbecoming of a lady, Saber," Caster chided. "You should be more respectful of a young man's privacy..."

 _"I'm not a lady, and neither are you, if you kept on looking!"_

"Yeah, for once I can agree with the edgy psycho, what the hell, Caster?!" Taiga demanded.

"The means through which I learn on subjects don't matter compared to the subjects themselves!" Caster waved that off, then asked Shirou. "Young Emiya, you listened how Saber called upon her Noble Phantasm, didn't you?"

Shirou blinked. "Her Noble what?"

Saber facepalmed. "He doesn't even know what's a Noble Phantasm...!"

"Did you ever stop to explain that to him?" Caster asked.

"Did you?!" Saber shot back.

"He is not **my** Master," Caster reminded her, before telling Shirou anyway, "Noble Phantasms are the ultimate sublimation of a Heroic Spirit's legend, the means through which we reached the Throne of Heroes. They are the tools and weapons that gave us fame and power among men. Generally, for them to be summoned, we must call upon them, but that is a liability as well as a strenght. The name always implies or directly reveals the identity of the Noble Phantasm's user, and if you learn your enemy's true identity, you also can infer the means to defeat them, their patterns and weaknesses. Today, Saber has revealed her as one Clarent Blood Arthur, which only can mean she has direct ties to the Arthurian mythos from long after my times..."

Makie approached them, blinking. "So she's actually Maid Marian?"

Saber blinked back. "Maid- what?!"

"You know, Robin Hood's girlfriend!" Makie said innocently. "Robin Hood and King Arthur were pals, right?"

"I'd be terribly angry at you right now, if you only had any idea what are you talking about!" Saber yelled at her.

"Think about it, Young Shirou," Caster calmly told Emiya. "She claims being a man, harbors a deep hatred against a father identified as a King, and is an accomplished swordsman with a flaring temper. What person in the Arthurian lore fulfills those conditions?"

"Prince John?" was Makie's new guess.

"Could you please stay away from any future discussions involving history, young lady?" Caster requested of her as cold as politely.

Shirou scratched his head. "Let's see... I'm not that big on Western history, but out of all the knights of Camelot- you mean the one nobody liked, the one who-"

"Mordred, I'm Mordred, okay?!" Saber shouted, tossing her hands up. "I can put it in the newspapers too, if you want me to! Sheesh! What a bunch of annoying people!"

Akashi-sensei was walking closer to the bed now, adjusting his glasses with concern. "Mordred, known as the Knight of Treachery...?"

"Treachery is a relative thing!" Mordred huffed. "I only repay the same way I was treated! It's true I tried to overthrow my father, but I had my good reasons for it and I don't regret it! Surely now you're going to lecture me on treachery, too!" she snapped at Caster.

The other Servant shook her head. "Not me. Not on that."

Mordred sulked at the Witch of Betrayal for a moment, insecure of her sincerity, before folding her arms like a stubborn child. "Now you're all getting weird ideas, no doubt! Listen, Shirou, when I offered my services to that dwarf, I only was joking, okay?! I wouldn't stoop as low as to backstab someone who hasn't offended me yet!"

"What about when you offered being my Servant, was that a lie too?" Yuuna asked.

"Are you still interested?"

"Not now that I know you have 'Treachery' as part of your name, no!"

"It isn't the name, it's the title!" she turned to Taiga next. "See, now they're pulling that profiling thing you mentioned earlier on me! It's also bad when it's put on me, isn't it? Just because I grew famous over being a betrayer, it's not like I'm going to betray you!"

"Are... Are you really listening to the words coming out of your mouth?" Taiga asked her.

"Okay, okay, time out, please!" Ako held her hands up. "So, what is going on here is, magic exists after all, and Yuuna's papa and Emiya-sempai and this girl here are mages too-"

"I got some training from my birth family, but I was never officially graduated as a magus, and neither was Oniisama..." Miyu began.

"Same difference!" Ako said. "And these two are dead people you brought back to life to be your bodyguards, and that crazy little girl was your long lost sister who is also a mage, and where's your papa's magical dead bodyguard then, Yuuna?!"

"It's not like most of us have Servants, Izumi-kun!" her friend's father said.

Taiga reached over to pat Ako on a shoulder. "I'm sorry, kid. But it will NOT get any easier the more you think about it. Anyway! Shirou, Miyu-chan, this can't keep going like this! This War thing is definitely too dangerous, and we've seen the school isn't safe either after all! You'll hand these Servants to someone else, and I'll move you over to Grandpa's for a while until these weirdos kill each other off, and..."

"But Oneesama," Miyu pointed out, "that girl hates us for reasons unrelated to our being Masters. She'd keep coming after us, but now we wouldn't have Servants to defend us..."

"And she came all the way from Europe, it's not like going somewhere else in Japan is going to change things for her," Shirou added.

Taiga blanched out. "But, but then, what...!"

Shirou sighed and clenched a fist. "There's no other way! We must either find a way to put a non-violent end to this war or win it ourselves!"

"With the same Servant who got a pounding today?" Yuuna critically asked.

"Shut up, girl, that was only a fluke! I'd have won if only that abominable brat hadn't used a Command Seal right then, but now that she's down to only two-!" Mordred barked.

"You'll get two more beatings?" Yuuna snarked.

"Being beaten down is a key part of being a hero, how can you get back up and kick ass if you aren't punted down first?!" Saber asked. "Honestly, why do I bother to explain these things to people like you?!"

"Wait, so what you've been trying to say is King Arthur was a woman?!" a bewildered Makie asked, the other shoe finally dropping.

"The King! Father was the King, genders are irrelevant when it comes to these things and I don't like talking about them, do you get that, dumb girl?!" Mordred told her.

Makie blinked. "Are you a futanari? Like in Haruna's manga?"

 _"I DON'T HAVE A PENIS, BUT WHAT IF I HAD IT ANYWAY!"_

Several houses away, Tohsaka Rin rolled around on her bed, trying to block her ears with her pillow. "Who the hell keeps on shouting so much?!" she complained to herself. "Honestly, they could wake the dead up...!"

* * *

 **End of Chapter Three.**


	5. War is Declared

Mordred kept on fuming to herself, lying back on Shirou's bed as the boy himself slept on a futon at the other end of the room, by the door. She was supposed to sleep to better regain her strenght; Caster had said physical sleep would allow her for a faster full recovery than merely spending time in an immaterial form. Alas, Saber could not sleep. She twiddled her fingers before her meager chest and stared up at the ceiling in the darkness, an unfamiliar plain white ceiling, with a fan in it. The damned bedroom didn't even have air conditioner, weren't these people supposed to have money?

It was not like Saber felt the need for luxury and comfort, of course. Through her military life, she had grown used to sleeping on the dirt, even under rainstorms and snow, and her new body made her even more indifferent to the elements. It was more like the principle of the thing, that it annoyed her to notice these people didn't think highly of her even after learning her true identity. This age had painted her as a villain, however, so maybe they couldn't be really faulted...

At some point, while she pondered this, her Master woke up enough as to ask quietly, still turning his back on her, "Illya called my father a 'Magus Killer', you heard that?"

"Of course I did, why wouldn't I?" Mordred grumbled. "What of it?"

"The Emiya Kiritsugu I knew was a kind man who would never hurt others," Shirou said, sounding clearly distant and troubled. "Even when he rescued Miyu-chan from those who massacred her birth family and kidnapped her, he spared all of their lives. He was a noble hero in my eyes, not a murderer. But today, being told he was some sort of killer who left a child behind... I shouldn't doubt him, that girl's clearly unbalanced, but..."

"I'm the wrong person to ask for family advice," Saber dryly admitted. "I come from a time when heroes were expected to kill. A spared enemy would only return for vengeance, inflicting more suffering upon the innocent. As long as your father only killed the right people, there's no shame on it, I'd say."

"That's the problem here, Saber," he said. "Kiritsugu raised me with the idea there are no 'right' lives to take."

"That either makes him a hypocrite, or someone who changed his views later in life," Saber detachedly observed. "If the latter, it's more than what can be said about _my_ father. Of course, once again, maybe the girl was just talking out of her ass."

"Yeah. Yeah, that has to be it," Shirou sighed, getting up and heading for the door. "Try to get some sleep, Saber. I'll go to the bathroom now."

Saber nodded absently in the dark. "Good night, Shirou."

"Good night," he said, and closed after him.

She tilted her eyes up towards the night, and the starry sky visible through his window, now that the rain had passed. The window's frame still dripped softly. Like tears lingering from a crying Heaven, that was how Mother had once described rain to a very young Mordred, back when days were still warm and happy.

Saber sank her teeth into her lower lip.

* * *

 _Fate Stay Night_ , _Fate Prototype_ , _Fate Zero_ , _Fate Hollow Ataraxia_ , _Fate EXTRA_ , _Fate Extella_ , _Fate Apocrypha_ , _Fate Strange/Fake_ , _Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya_ , _Fate Requiem, Fate School Life_ and _Fate Grand Order_ all are the creation and intellectual property of Nasu Kinoko and Type-Moon.

All other featured and mentioned franchises belong to their respective copyright owners.

With Special Thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, Darkenning, Kamenhero25, Moczo, Ol'Vesper, GhostXavier and The Infamous Man for the inspiration.

* * *

 **Lovely Magical Collectible Waifu Game of Death!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four.**

* * *

 **War is Declared.**

* * *

The man's hand was large, almost as big as the little girl's head itself, or at least it looked that way to the little girl, through the haze of her memories. It rested on her hair and, after a moment of hesitation, rubbed through and over it almost forcefully, as if wanting to leave an impression on her but also fearful of hurting her. Of course, it was not like he could caress her scalp tenderly, even though he wanted to, and the girl could easily tell. This was the first time ever he had rubbed her scalp, while looking down at her smiling face. The girl smiled brightly because she was fully unaware of what was about to happen, and only felt good because her father was finally paying her the attention she had wanted from him for so long.

And then he spoke. He gave her a book, one that made the girl's smile grow even wider, as she was well aware of how much did that tome mean to him. But just as she reveled in that sudden gift and its meaning, he turned around and walked back towards the large manor, leaving her and her mother standing by the limousine that would take them to their country villa, outside Fuyuki City.

The girl hugged the book against her chest and softly said, "Take good care, Father."

That had been ten years ago.

Here and now, however, Tohsaka Rin was waking up with a heavy head full of black hair stringing in thick puffs in all directions, and her limbs felt as if they were made of dry cement. "Damn those hooligans," the attractive young woman mumbled to herself, all but dragging her body out of the comfortable, soft mattress that invited her to sleep on it all day long. "They wouldn't shut up for hours and hours..."

She blinked at her decidedly unglamorous image on the mirror and began brushing her hair back into shape before realizing through her sleepy stupor that she hadn't bathed yet. Grabbing a towel and grouching all the way, she lurched over to the bathroom, stripped down, placed herself under the warm and revitalizing flow of the shower, and emerged again a renewed woman, alert and ready to tackle the new day.

She stepped lively all the way back to her bedroom, efficiently fixing her hair and dressing up, the perfect image of the ideal classmate. Humming to herself, she made it to the kitchen, where her Servant sat by the breakfast table in casual clothes she had gotten for him through Kirei. Annoyingly, to her at least, they were nowhere as tacky as the clothes the priest would buy _her_ for every special occasion. Since this was not the Servant's fault, however, or so Rin chose to believe, she was polite to him as she sat across him, nodding her thanks for the plate set before her.

"Good morning, Lancer, nice of you to cook today."

"Eh. 'Twas nothing," she could feel him shrugging behind the newspaper he was reading indifferently, and she began politely eating from the Spartan, fish based meal he had prepared, with a cup of coffee as hot, thick and black as just broiled tar. Her Servant had been a man of the woods and mountains, a survivalist, and was used to cook for himself accordingly; while Rin might have wished for a Servant with more refinated cuisine, she was not going to berate Lancer over his contributions. At least he wasn't too much of a snarker about being expected to cook at times. He didn't seem like the kind of man who was used to being served, preferring to serve instead, even if in his own terms. "I circled that Matou house last night as you asked, and I can tell there's a Servant making the rounds around it, but hell if I could get a good view of them," Lancer casually commented, as if talking on the weather report. "They kept on shifting out of sight whenever I got close, weird ability, I tell you. Maybe it's an Assassin. You implied that'd be the most logical choice from those people, right?"

"Maybe," Rin allowed, trying to drink her first sip of the coffee, and frowning at the task ahead of her. "Overall, I was hoping they wouldn't get to summon anyone. The family's gone to seed over the years, but I suppose they must have had new life injected into them after all..."

"Hmmmm?"

"Nothing. What about the black Saber? No signs of her either?"

"No, I figure she must be calculating a new approach," Lancer estimated. "Do you want me to keep watching the Matous, or is there anyone else you'd suspect of being a Master around here?"

"Maybe we should watch the boy teacher from Wales," Rin said, mulling over an idea that had latched onto her of late. "It's strange they'd sent him from an elite school so soon before a War. Kirei developed his seal years before the Fourth War, it wouldn't shock me if this child had his manifest a few months ago, more or less."

"So today I'm going to school with you, too," Lancer finally lowered the newspaper, smiling cockily at her. "Thank the gods I got a Master with so many beautiful classmates! Now, if you ever let me talk to them, just a little..."

"'Just a little' is all you'd need, horndog," Rin confidently smirked at him, wagging a finger in mock reproach over the table. She didn't terribly mind Lancer being a lecher as long as he kept his hands off her and her friends, which so far he had done, and knew antagonizing him on the subject would only make him push harder the opposite way. "But you can look all you want if we're going to keep an eye on 3-A today. It seems our genius teacher has a weird syndrome of magical itchy nose around girls."

Lancer frowned. "What? I don't get it, that doesn't make any sense?"

"Well," Rin began to explain, "you'll see, basically, it goes like this-"

* * *

"You will understand," Gilles De Rais said, in a tone that seemed to come from the bottom of his heart, as he paced back and forth before the terrified blond man in the white suit, "I normally don't find myself comfortable, resorting to tactics this underhanded."

The headquarters of the Honnouji District Beehive Gang, formerly lush and refinated, brimming with the most exquisite luxuries brought from America, now were filthy and blackened, overrun all over by oozing darkness smelling of long rotting fish and decay. Across this huge room alone, twelve men were already dead, shredded into all sorts of horrible manners, broken and snapped and being slowly devoured by the tentacled things moving all around, from one corner to the next, back and forth, back and forth.

The Caster faced one of the three only people still alive in the room, and the only one currently not wrapped into tentacles suspending them from the ceiling. The figure of pale greasy skin and bulging eyes inclined himself before the terrified mature man with a wrinkled face, forcefully taking his hands into his cadaverous claws, and squeezing them tightly. "Much like yourself, My Lord, I once was a nobleman, a distinguished gentleman of war and honor. Ohhhhhh, the honoooooor, what a faaaaaarce!" he hollered, taking his head back in thrashing ecstasy, and greatly scaring the blonde girl hanging along the man's chief of bodyguards, a tall and grimacing white haired figure in a black suit, tie and shoes. "Do you know what honor and effort did for me, Monsieur Kirisaki Wogner? The same thing they have achieved for you. In the end, none of them help us when monsters decide seizing us for all we are worth."

"Listen, please..." Adelt Kirisaki Wogner tried to reason, keeping his eyes fixed on the beautiful, blue eyed girl. "We can negotiate. We can reach an agreement, I'm sure. Whoever you are, whatever you wish..."

"I am nothing but a poor lost soul, My Lord," Caster said with airs of great wounded dignity, letting his hands go at last and placing a shaky fist on his own heart. "A heartbroken spirit who's never recovered from his losses. I once had a friend, and I lost her. Then a master, and he left me. My peers took my land and state away, and then my life! And then, and then I was given form again! And I lost my new best of friends, my soul mate! And when I thought I had regained the light of my first love, she was taken away from me as well!" He broke into loud, pathetic sobbing, from which he snapped back just as quickly. "What have you lost, Monsieuuuur? What has life taken away from you? I've read the papers pulled by the sewer into my castle of shadows, you know. They told me of your power, of your influence, of your precious child and the loving wife waiting for you in this place they call America..."

"I... I don't understand, have I ever taken anything from you?" the mob boss insisted on the futility of reasoning with this madman, for what else could he do? "Did the Ichijous sent you? The Fujimuras? I thought Raiga and I had an agreement, I-!"

"Maybe. Maybe you did something to me," Caster pondered quietly, rubbing his chin. "Or maybe it was someone who didn't look like you at all. Regardless, I'm not here because of what you did to me, but because of what you will do for me, sinner."

Adelt nodded, finally feeling on more familiar ground. "Y-Yes, now we're understanding each other, now, if you would please just lower my daughter...!"

"Can doooooooooo!" Caster laughed, spreading his arms as the viscous tentacles lowered the girl and the bodyguard with relative gentleness, dropping them by Adelt's side. The tendrils seemed to melt off them, and the white haired man immediately pulled a handgun out, even as the girl rushed to her father, who wrapped her in a protective embrace. The bodyguard shot five times in quick succession, and the horrible man just smiled as he absorbed the bullets, each blowing into his body mass and barely making him twitch, before in a flash, he was dashing over to his shooter. "My tuuuuuurn!" he cackled, then grabbing the man's wrist and snapping it like a twig with a turn of his, slamming him against the floor amidst his screams and the girl's. "Oooooohhhhh! Oooooohhhhh! I like your spirit, Captain of Guards! Tell me, do tell me, what is your name...?!"

"Arrrrgh! You damned, filithy piece of-!" the man cursed, then winced as Caster pressed a foot down on his head, threatening to crush it like an egg under his sole. "Claude, damn you! It's Claude...!"

"Ah," Caster said quietly, smiling like an angel. "A fellow countryman. It is so good, finding one after so long. Then again, my countrymen **were** the ones to execute me..."

After a moment of pondering, he simply kicked the still living man aside, shrugging his shoulders. "I only feel good when I kill Frenchmen by handfuls, otherwise what is the point?! That, my dear sir," he politely addressed the chief of the mob again, "is why I need your services. My talents, sterling as they are, still know certain limits yours don't. All in ask, in trade for your life and your child's, and believe me, this is a sacrifice for me too, as I've told you before, I don't like to negotiaaaaaate, is for a given man of extreme coolness, the only artisan of this era I believe worthy of my time, to be delivered to me by you."

Solemnly, Caster pulled the old newspaper from his robes and unfolded it before the faces of the blond man and his young daughter.

"What the-?!" she gasped out, pulling back. "Do you have any idea who's that-?!"

"Of course I do, my angel," Caster sweetly said, nodding like a doting grandfather. "That is why I need him. For you have feared his image more than you have feared my presence. I need him to teach me, so I can surpass myself, improve into the ultimate artist of blasphemy and murder!" he began gesturing madly again with a waving fist. "Ryuunosuke, Ryuunosuke! You will never be replaced, but please understand, I do need another partner to shine! Oh! Forgive me, you, O Most Holy of Maidens, my Jeaaaaaanne, my Jeaaaaaaanne! But rest assured, together with this man, the only one who could slay the Dark Angel, I shall storm the gates of your torment place and free you! Forgive me as well, Master Prelati! But! The time is ripe, then, for a new teacher!"

Gilles De Rais panted and trembled like a possesed man, and finally smiled beatifically again, nodding tenderly at the father and daughter. "So please call your beloved, my dear Monsieur, or you, Mademoiselle. You will tell her this..."

Minutes later, across the globe, night fell over New York. In the last story of a tall business tower second only to that of Wilson Fisk, a beautiful mature lady worked on a few last documents to sort through for the night. Highly important transactions involving very relevant and dangerous individuals, which was why she was so annoyed when one of the very few with the permission to interrupt her work entered her office. "What do you want..." then she paused and frowned, noticing the paleness on the face of the beautiful black haired girl in the bodyguard suit who had appeared before her, "... Tsugumi-chan?"

The girl, wide eyed and unusually nervous, extended a phone over to her. "It's... It's from Chitoge Ojou-sama, Mistress..." she stiffly stammered.

Kirisaki Hana snatched the phone from her. "Hello?! Chitoge-chan?!"

"M-Mom," her daughter's voice said, "We... We need a favor from you. There's someone who needs... _r-really_ wants us to arrange a jailbreak f-for him. Mom..." here she took a deep breath and finished, "It's Gotham. We have to break the Joker from Arkham Asylum."

* * *

"I need a scout," Kotomine Kirei decided, standing with his arms folded behind his back, overlooking the sunny campus, so full of thriving young life, spread beyond his living quarters' window.

Gilgamesh, who sat at the other end of the room in a casual black jacket and pants, smirked while sipping an early glass of the priest's wine, since he was visiting. "What is the problem, Kirei? Haven't enough Masters reported with you, holding their mongrels' lashes? Surely among them there must be several no one would miss."

"Most of them, indeed," Kirei agreed. "However, I m surrounded by too many other members of the local clergy as to act freely. Back at Fuyuki, it would have been much easier. Here, it is more like working at an office building than a House of the Lord."

"Take your protegee's mongrel then," the King of Heroes suggested. "Or are you squeamish of disposing of the girl after orphaning her?"

"Nothing would bring me more pleasure than snuffing the life out of the last Tohsaka," Kirei droned, "but Rin is too well known, as is the fact she is directly under my responsibility. A shame, since her Servant would be ideal for the tasks I need fulfilled. However, Konoe would suspect of me first and foremost, should anything happen to her. And my plans cannot unravel just yet."

Gilgamesh frowned. "I hope you aren't expecting for me to carry out such menial tasks for your sake."

"No, no," the human shook his head, "I never would expect that from you. I might take the Icecolle whore's Servant, I suppose, but she seems hardly fitting what I would demand of her. Likewise for Caren's Servant, who is excessively volatile. The Matous have summoned a Servant as well, but... not only she troubles me, but I have the sensation the ancient leech is hiding something else from me. And then there's Emiya's boy, but..."

"Oh? Saber's Master," Gilgamesh finally seemed to gain some interest. "Did he survive long enough as to sire a son, after what happened to him? Truly impressive for someone so low..."

"He adopted two children, I have been researching on that. In hindsight, I should have kept better tabs on him this whole time, but... there never seemed to be a purpose on it. For all intents and purposes, I killed the Magus Killer that night. There was no point on chasing after the hollow shell that survived him for the next five years."

"And I'm sure," Gilgamesh smiled slyly, finishing his glass, "he felt the same way about you."

"An Assassin. Assassin would fit my purposes well," Kirei said, trying to ignore the barb, which Gilgamesh humored this once. "The Master of Assassin hasn't registered yet, however, the instruments reveal the Servant has materialized recently. They must be somewhere out there, but perhaps, like with the last Caster, their Master has no idea what they have been charged with. Maybe I only need being patient..."

"If not a Servant, probably a human being would suffice," Gilgamesh suggested. "After all, if these Servants are as pathetic as the last line-up, would there be much of a difference?"

Kirei hummed, pondering his words with a nod. "The King's wisdom proves being helpful once again. I might give Bazett-kun a call. She _was_ disappointed she could not summon a Servant, and she _does_ have something to put her on par with the weaker Servants..."

"Oh, Kotomine, you would be completely lost without me!" Gilgamesh laughed, shaking his head.

"Yes. Yes, I would. At the very least, I might have never found myself..."

He kept on looking down, and sure enough, before long Rin passed by without deigning a look towards his quarters, much like every other morning in her way to classes. He then felt Gilgamesh standing right behind him, looking at her over his shoulder.

"So, that is the fool's daughter," the golden man pondered with a smirk. "Remarkably, she was grown to be even more similar to that person I disliked so much."

Gilgamesh was, despite all of his protests on the contrary, a person who couldn't let go of the past, as Kirei was reminded of then. As for Kotomine himself, the past barely mattered anymore, which was why he had completely lost track of Emiya after that night. What once had been so important, now seemed so trivial and banal, in hindsight.

Now all that mattered was making the world suffer.

Rin sneezed and rubbed his nose, never stopping her elegant march through the campus. "See?" she told the invisible presence hanging around her, but only because there wasn't anyone else in hearing range. "It's spring, sneeze season, and those incidents I told you about are bound to happen often. Thankfully the girls studying here are just too dense, as you surely have noticed by now..."

She took a brief detour away from the High School building and towards the Junior High building across the small artificial lagoon, looking at her wristwatch for a moment. "He's almost always early, so I guess it won't hurt stopping by and letting you see, I shouldn't be tardy regardless," she told Lancer. "And speaking of the devil, here he comes..."

Indeed, a small scooter painted yellow was stopping by the tall stairs leading up onto the building's front gates, and from it descended a small red haired boy in a green suit, a taller young lady with glasses and a brown ponytail, and a petite, brainy black haired girl who hastily began securing the vehicle by the gates, quickly placing a large amount of locks and alarms on it. Between you and me, several were designed to cleave limbs off any likely thief.

Four girls they were catching up by, all of them looking like they hadn't caught a lot of sleep last night, stopped before them at the bottom of the stairs. The pink haired short one shook her sleepiness soon enough, smiling brightly at the child. "Oh, good morning, Negi-kun!"

"Oh, hey there, guys..." Yuuna joined the greeting wearily as soon as she saw who was Makie addressing.

"G-Good morning, Sensei!" Ako stammered, bowing.

"Sensei," Akira respectfully nodded at him. "Um, you will see, the girls have been telling me about yesterday, and-"

Before Akira could offer the white lie her three friends had just given her to justify their absence last afternoon, however, the boy waved their concerns off with a gentle smile and hand gesture. "Don't worry, girls, we'll talk about that later.I'm sure you had good reasons for-"

"Ah!" said another short girl with dark purplish short hair, standing up the stairs, thick bangs covering most of her eyes. "G-Good morning, Negi-sensei, Chisame-san, Hakase-san!"

"Good morning..." monotoned the even shorter and flatter girl by her side, she of wide shiny forehead and thick braids at each side of her head.

 _"Yeah, good morning!"_ said a much taller and bustier beauty with long black hair and glasses, winking an eye and grinning at them while greeting them in excellent if accented English.

"Ah-ha-ha, wow, the Library Exploration Club, early as ever," Negi Springfield good naturedly said, starting to go up the stairs. "Nice to see you all in so good spirits today, I'm sure we- we will-!" he added, suddenly twitching and pulling his head back...

"Here it is," Rin said from her and Lancer's safe surveillance spot, holding her skirt down. "Pay attention...!"

 _ **"ATCHOOOOOOO!"**_

A massive sneeze exploded from this tiny boy, as a large bomb going off, and in an instant, every piece of clothing was blown off altogether off the bodies of the girls surrounding him- Chisame, Hakase, Makie, Yuuna, Ako, Akira, Nodoka, Yue, and Haruna- and dissipating them into so many tiny pieces floating along the air.

Rin smiled proudly, smoothing the skirt she had stopped from flaring up this time, and nodded in the direction she could sense Lancer from, hands on her hips. "Do you still think I was exaggerating?" she managed to ask over the shrieks of all those juniors. "I tell you, if he ever gets into the Throne, that's going to be one of his Noble Phantasms for sure!"

 _Well,_ Lancer pondered, as his invisible eyes wandered all over the girls trying to cover themselves with their hands as best as they could, _it's certainly one I wouldn't have minded having...!_

* * *

"So... what's the deal with this Negi boy, then?" Lancer carelessly asking, standing on a rooftop with Rin later, during lunch break, overlooking the yards where the juniors gathered. "I mean, do you think he does it on purpose?"

Rin stopped chewing from her bento box to give the Servant a scandalized glare. "Lancer! He's only ten!"

"I was ten when I had my son," Lancer reminded her.

Rin blushed and huffed, closing her eyes. "Y-Yes, fine, but those were other times...!"

"I thought your society was much more behind with the times than the average human nowadays?"

"We're not **that** behind, though!" Rin snapped. "Um, no offense!"

Lancer shrugged, looking again at where Negi sat surrounded by Chisame, Satomi, and four other girls. One of them was a beauty with long purplish hair who was trying to feed him from a lunch box, smiling widely as she did so. Another was a gleeful girl with little braids who sat very close to Hakase, ocassionally pinching her cheeks and giggling. Then there was a redhead with very long twintails who rolled her eyes a lot while eating, and finally a nervous looking thin girl with very short hair. Lancer himself cut a curious figure of his own in the Boys' High uniform Rin had procured him, on which he looked too old for the part, now that she thought about it. The red spear still slung over his shoulders didn't help much.

"Eh, on hindsight, maybe you're right and I shouldn't have had him so young. Good for him, though, if he can take it..."

Rin ran a hand down his face. "I'm sure he's not here to get himself a harem! What kind of twisted society of magical deviants would send a child to secure himself a harem?!"

"I think the term most used nowadays concerning that is 'collective'," Lancer pointed out. "So, you think they only sent him on a bloody mission to kill others, partnered with a warrior as lethal as possible?"

"Yes, that's a much more sensible thing for mages **or** magi to do!" Rin nodded firmly.

"I see, so you're behind the times in the 'make love, not war' mentality of these days, too," Lancer pondered indolently. "Me, I rather would do both..."

"This is why I wanted a Saber," Rin muttered. "Sabers are serious, straight laced Heroic Spirits, whoever summoned Saber surely doesn't have to deal with anything like this..."

* * *

"Sensei, could I talk with you a moment?" Yuuna asked, approaching Negi's little merry gang.

The boy teacher blinked. "Oh, sure, Yuuna-san, is it about yesterday? I told you already, the explanation you gave is perfectly-"

"Well.. it's sort of related, but not really," Yuuna uneasily said, making alarms signs go off in the minds of Misora and Misa, who promptly tensed up. "If we could have just a minute in private, please...?"

"Sure thing, I don't really mind," he easily said, getting up and smiling back at the rest of the girls. "We'll be back right now, all right?"

"Sure, sure, whatever, go," Chisame groaned, waving blandly at them, and then enduring the sharp glares from Kakizaki and Misora as soon as the duo had retreated away. "What? It's Akashi, Miss Papacon herself! You're being just paranoid by now!"

"Some guardian you are, Hasegawa!" Misa snapped at her. "Aren't you even the smallest bit worried? For Yuuna to want privacy with him, all of a sudden...!"

"I repeat myself, Papacon!" Chisame insisted.

Asuna nodded sagely. "While targeting specifically her own dad is still gross, Yuuna's a fellow conoisseur- that's the word, right?- of the delights of the older gentleman. Have you ever seen her dad? He's hotter than the sun...!"

"Hrrrmmm," Sakurako went, looking into another direction. "And tell us, is he hotter than that boy suddenly in the girls' area right now, coming towards us...?"

Asuna clucked her tongue without even looking along. "Come on, Sakurako, you know the losers who always venture here to get a look are just fat losers Kotegawa-sempai will kick back out in no time, it's not like a good looking guy will ever need to-"

Misa, currently very stiff and alert, grabbed Asuna's face and forced it to turn around towards the same young man she was fixedly staring at now.

Asuna's jaw dropped. "Hommina, hommina, hommina, oh whoa papa!"

Chisame, Misora, Satomi and Sakurako shared a collective look, sigh, and shake of heads.

"Hello, ladies," waved the smirking, tall, handsome, deliriously attractive man striding towards them, with a red javalin thrown over his angular, strong shoulders. "Sorry, this is my second day in this school, and it'd seem I've lost my way..."

"How do you do, Sempai!" Asuna gushed happily, rushing to stand by him along with Misa, hearts replacing their eyes. In the case of Asuna, one heart was still blue and the other still green. "I'm Kagurazaka Asuna, Arts Club...! Do you like Arts? Sure you do, you look cultured _**and**_ athletic at once...!"

"I'm Kakizaki Misa, Church Choir, Cheerleading Squad!" Misa giggled. "I'll be glad to cheer for your team anytime you want me to...!"

"Hey," Chisame snorted, "whatever happened to being in love with Negi, then?"

"A smart girl always keeps an alternative at hand, that's Misa's motto..." Sakurako sighed.

Misora frowned, standing up. "Hey, you!" she pointed a finger at the grinning Lancer, who was clearly enjoying the attentions. "I'll let you know I'm in a track and field team, and I talk with javalin throwers all the time! And that, mister, is no javalin! What the heck are you doing, walking around girls with... with a lance, or whatever that is?! It's even sharp, for Pete's sake!"

"It's a spear, to be more precise," a quiet, even female voice said then from another direction, one these students of Negi knew already, and that made them all jolt up in silent alarm. Caren Ortensia strode into view calmly, in a high school uniform, and followed by a tall, pale and white haired young woman with angry yellow eyes who stared at the handsome stranger quite murderously. Lancer narrowed his eyes, losing the grin, and the hold on his spear tightened. "It would seem our friend here is a true lancer."

"C-Caren-sempai!" Misa stammered, staring in horror at the intense looking female from Misora's story. "Is this your... friend?!"

Caren nodded. "From France, you may call her Leticia-san. Say hello, Leticia-san."

 _ **"Grrrrrrr,"**_ Avenger growled, Lancer and her staring intently into each other's eyes.

By now even Misa was backing away from Lancer as if he was Death itself on legs, and only Asuna remained blinking, cluelessly, by his side. "Huh? Is she your ex-girlfriend, Sempai?"

"A-A-Asuna!" Misa gestured jerkily at her to come with them. "R-Remember what Misora-chan told us, about those guys, and those other guys, and the-?!"

"Huh?" Asuna cocked her head aside, only of her twintails briefly taking the shape of a question mark. "Whachoo talkin' about, Misa?"

"We are these girls' next door neighbors," Caren patiently explained to Lancer, "but other than that, they have no relationship with us or our business, Lancer-san. I trust your associates will agree with us there is, then, no need to involve them into whatever is to transpire between us."

 _ **"Grrrrrrrr!"**_ Avenger said, in a tone that made it clear she didn't exactly care much either way.

Lancer flashed a confident smile as Satomi and Sakurako simply dragged the still clueless Asuna aside with themselves, Chisame, Misora and Misa swallowing loudly. "You're quite right, then, Little Sister. Maybe these businesses would be better treated somewhere else, tonight... Let's say by the river? At the old suspension bridge? That looks like, after all, such a romantic place..."

"Dammit, the best ones are always already taken," Asuna pouted.

"Asu-naaaa!" Sakurako clenched her teeth, and then quickly whispered something into her ear.

Asuna blinked, then paled slightly. "Ooooohhhh... Oh, so it's that. W-Well, never mind then! I'll stick to Takahata-sensei, thankyouverymuch..."

From her vantage point at the rooftop, Rin bit on her thumb, staring down as Lancer, Caren and her Servant agreed on a time and then went their separate ways, the disaster averted for now. Well, at the very least they had fished an enemy out with little effort. Did this mean Negi Springfield wasn't involved after all, or was he an ally of this girl, whoever she was? And her Servant, she had the boiling insanity of a Berserker apparent in her, but was she really-

A voice she only had known from afar since separation a decade ago rang behind her, more playful than ever. "Oh, you've got yourselves a double date tonight, Neesan? And here I was hoping you could get to spend time with us instead..."

Rin spun around and found herself facing someone who shouldn't be approaching her, just as she shouldn't be approaching the girl either, ever. "Matou-san?" she asked. "What are you-" But then it hit her, not only her smile and tone of voice were all wrong, but the hair was simply too long for someone who had it much shorter just yesterday, when Rin last watched on her from a distance, just on a coincidence, not that she had been looking for her or anything, and-

"Oh, no, Matou-san is my Master!" the big chested smiled gently, folding her arms behind her back and edging closer towards Rin, who felt a sharp icy pang piercing her spine. "My name is Moon Cancer, Neesan. Extremely pleased to meet you, glorious sole heiress of the Tohsakas!"

* * *

"I need telling you something about our next door neighbors, and in turn, I'd like for you to be honest about a few things I'm going to ask you," Yuuna said as soon as she'd taken Negi far enough, behind some trees.

The boy teacher blinked. "Your neighbors? Oh, yes, you live with your father, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, even though now he's talking about sending me to the dormitories, he claims it's safer here..."

"Ah, yes, well, normally I would be quick to agree with him on that, but perhaps you should wait a few weeks before acting on that decision..."

Yuuna paused. "Are we talking on the same subject?"

"I don't think we are, really. Sorry, what was this about your neighbors? Did they offend you in any way?"

"No, Dad would have taken care of that himself," Yuuna sighed. "You'll see, I've learned a few things about Dad of late..."

"Oh," Negi winced slightly, since he was starting to have a creeping suspicion about this.

"And I really want to be mad at him, but so many other things have been happening, that I just can't focus on being mad at him right now!" she admitted. "Haven't you ever felt like that?"

"I can't say I have..." Negi slowly said, "But I believe Chisame has..."

"Exactly! Chisame!" Yuuna snapped her fingers. "I never thought I could sympathize with her, but now I think I kinda can understand why she'd be so upset all the time, going from living a normal life, to have her life changed by something beyond her control..."

Negi scratched the back of his neck uneasily. "I know it hasn't been easy for her adapting to life with me, but I'd like to think I'm leaving a positive influence on her..." He decided betting on double or nothing. "I give up, Yuuna-san, what is what you want to tell me? Please be direct with me, classes will start shortly!"

"I lied to you when we gave you that excuse over our absence yesterday," she confessed. "I know, the excuse was my idea, but the more I thought about it, the more I came to think it'd been a bad idea, and-!"

"No way, and it was such a convincing story, too!" Negi shook his head. "I'm sorry to say this, but you disappoint me, Yuuna-san."

Yuuna frowned. "Well, yeah, you disappoint me for buying a story about chasing homework thieves on skateboards all over town, Negi-kun. We don't even have bicycles! Anyway, in truth, Makie, Ako and I spent most of last afternoon with my neighbor, Emiya Shirou-sempai!"

Negi blinked. "And what about Akira-san?"

"I dunno. Out somewhere with her new friend the volleyball player, I guess? Whatever, we were, um, how to say it-"

"Convinced to skip classes and have dinner with an older boy? For shame, Yuuna-san," Negi chided her. "What would Professor Akashi say if he-"

"Actually, we were kidnapped by a maid-"

"Roberta-san did that?! But, Iinchou-san would never approve-!"

"Not her! Another psycho foreign maid with superhuman strenght!" Yuuna said, then paused. "Do you think it's a standard for millionaries to hire those?" she asked, now sounding even more oddly concerned.

Negi opened his mouth to give a reasoned and logical opinion on the subject, but Yuuna just kept on talking. "That doesn't matter now, the maid took us to a castle in the woods with her master, a weird creepy albino loli who wanted to lock us up in her basement dungeon as bait for Emiya-sempai!"

"Oh my!"

"But they lost the keys of the dungeon! After helping them look for them for a hour, we still couldn't find them, so instead we were locked in a room with nothing but old fashion magazines from a decade ago!"

"That's inhuman!" Negi shuddered.

"Yeah! Then Emiya-sempai showed up with a new friend of his and saved us from the loli's super-buff stripper bodyguard, and Dad also came to help, and do you think I've gone crazy by now, or not?! Because I'm still leaving the weirder details out!"

"I don't think you're crazy..." Negi warily replied, regardless sweating a lot, "But I believe you might have gone into aspects of existence and perception you shouldn't have wandered into..."

"Well, and haven't you?!"

Negi shook his head firmly. "No, all through my life I have tried to remain steadily into the path my education and upbringing traced for me from the beginning."

Yuuna fumed. "Well, someone isn't quite the virtuous proper boy. I'd bet Ako would be swooning!"

"I... I didn't try to sound pretentious or anything, it's just... Look, Yuuna-san, surely you'd also agree that ordeal you went through is something you'd never have wanted to go through, right?!"

Yuuna flinched. "Um, well... Y-Yeah, of course, nobody ever wants to go through anything like that! But, still...!"

"And can you blame your father for wanting to spare you from those experiences, then?! Or, were I ever in the same hypothetical range of existencial experiences, could you blame me for wanting to spare my students from the same?!"

"And not being turned into an ermine?"

"Yes, that too!"

Yuuna huffed, looking down. "Listen... It's not like that helped me, Chisame, Hakase, Misora, Misa, Sakurako or Asuna much either way, now did it?"

"That's... a curiously specific circle of classmates you have just listed, Yuuna-san."

Yuuna glared at him. "When will you stop insulting my intelligence?"

"As soon as you stop testing mine, perhaps," the normally saintly patient Negi said. Then his sense of priorities kicked in, after remembering what Caren-san had told him, Chamo and the girls recently, and he sobered up. "I'm sorry. That was... unbecoming from me. You have been in great danger and continue being so, and that should take precedence over anything else, my own secrecy included, right now. I'll talk with Chisame and the others. Come to our apartment today, after classes, and we'll discuss this properly."

Yuuna nodded, more sedate herself, as well, now. "Thank you, Negi-kun."

"Don't mention it," he uneasily said, just as the bells rang again.

* * *

Moon Cancer leaned ahead, seriously violating Rin's personal space with the same knowing, mischievous smile.

"What's the problem, Neesan?" the strange Servant asked. "You look as if you'd just seen a ghost. Is that proper behavior from a born and raised Magus?"

Rin spoke quickly, saving face. "Don't you dare mocking my lineage. What kind of class 'Moon Cancer' is anyway, I'd never heard anything so-"

"Sorry to be late, Master," quiet, grimly said Lancer, stepping behind Moon Cancer with his spear already subtly aimed at her back. "Well, and to think they call me unlucky! After looking for other Servants so much, two drop on us just at once, and they're both lovely to boot..."

For a fleeting moment, Rin thought she could see an expression of burning anger flashing through those beautiful familiar features of Moon Cancer, but just as soon, the placid smile returned, and she spun around to face Lancer. "My, my, what a forthcoming gentleman! Be careful, Oniichan, if you're too forward I'll have to scream for my virtue, and there's a lot of people so close..."

"If you didn't want a fight, you shouldn't have come here," Lancer warned.

Moon Cancer laughed softly, putting her hands together. "Ahhhh, a bad boy! I should set you up with my little sister, she really likes bad boys! Then again, some other little sisters prefer the nice and caring types, don't they, Neesan?"

"Tell Shinji to go shove his stupid mindgames up his ass," Rin harshly told her. "And show your real appearance already or I swear I'll make Lancer stab you, I don't care if we are-"

"This _is_ my real face, Neesan," Moon Cancer smiled enigmatically at her, glancing over her shoulder while disappearing slowly. "What is yours?"

Then she was gone.

Rin finally could breath out more or less normally then. And Lancer lowered his spear. "So. Mind telling me about this?"

Rin lowered her gaze, sulking. "If you feel really owed an explanation, I'll give it. But I'd feel much better keeping this to myself, if you don't mind."

Lancer shrugged. "Have it your way, then. I thought you worried a lot about those Matous, for a dying family, but I see maybe you have your good reasons..."

"Yes. Yes, I do," Rin sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Thank you, Lancer. By the way, that Servant down there... At first I thought her a Berserker, but it took me a while to see the truth. It's a seldom seen class, so I wasn't sure, but the sheer rage in those eyes alone- Avenger, the Legendary Spirit of Vengeance. It has to be. An anti-hero, the likes of which couldn't be summoned before Heaven's Feel Three. This would be the second one ever."

"Interesting times, these," Lancer observed. "You know, I couldn't help noticing every other Servant in this war seems to be a beautiful lady. Every Master, too."

Rin huffed. "Cool yourself, Casanova. There'll be at least one beautiful lady in this game tonight, won't it?"

"That's why I'm here, Master," he nodded, even as the bells rang in the distance, marking the return to student activities. "And after her, what? Do we attack the Matous at their stronghold?"

"No, that would be bad form," Rin said, keeping her chin high as she walked towards the stairs. "We've seen she has something personal against me, for some reason that completely escapes me, so she'll come to us sooner or later. It's a mere matter of waiting."

"She mentioned a sister," Lancer said, following her. "What do you think she meant with that?"

"A figure of speech, or maybe she's just out of her mind," Rin replied while Lancer returned to his astral form. "That doesn't really matter," she told herself more than him. "It shouldn't have to, really."

Moon Cancer, meanwhile, skipped happily across the Mahora campus, enjoying the gloriously green spring, so different from the simulated replicas she had once managed through the Moon Cell's environments. Those had been nice, she had to admit, but even while lacking so much control here, there was something about enjoying the real deal that she was finding just couldn't be duplicated. It made her earn all the moreso for the experience of greeting her Sempai face to face again, this time in the flesh for real, which was bound to be similarly even more satisfying, no doubt. Her heart jumped with glee even as she headed back towards the hateful excuse for a Master she had now, all the while pondering just ditching him with Melt and Lip and simply wandering off to enjoy a full afternoon in town...

Just as soon as she had made her mind on the subject and headed down a side street with a roguish giggle, she found Meltlilth standing on her way, wearing one of her patented cold scowls and a long coat that covered the whole lenght of her legs. BB lost her smile. "Where's Shin-chan?" she asked her sister unit.

"I left Passionlip with him, don't worry," the Alter Ego answered dryly. "That doesn't matter, what does is, I finally found the Kishinami Hakuno of this timeline, and learned why we just couldn't locate him before."

"That.. That's wonderful!" Moon Cancer broke into a genuine, wide and truly happy smile for once. "Where is he?!"

"Hakuno-san currently studies at Ohtori Academy, that is part of why the search took longer, but the-"

"Ohtori! Of course!" BB slammed a fist in the opposite palm. "That makes sense, considering the other diverging variants in the timeline I've been combing through."

" _ **We**_ have been," Meltlilith grouchily corrected her.

BB frowned. "What's the problem now? You should be happy, well, what passes for being happy in you! What is it? Is he an enemy Master, or-"

"She," it was Melt's turn to interrupt her.

"Eh?" the ever eloquent and overflowing with words BB said.

"The Kishinami Hakuno of this reality," the Alter Ego explained, tapping a sharp blade down on the sidewalk, "is a woman."

A long silence ensued.

"But she's still hot, right!?" Moon Cancer eventually asked, still sounding hopeful.

* * *

"Wow," Yuuna said quietly, leaving her shoes by the door and looking at the way Chisame, Asuna, Misa, Hakase, Misora and Cocone, and even the normally chipper Sakurako sat before her, with Negi's white pet ermine sitting on top of Satomi's head. "Before we go any further with this, I need to know, I'm not being put on trial, right?"

"You haven't done anything wrong, so no, we aren't judging you, Yuuna-san," Negi said, closing the door after her. "Hm, does your father know you're here...?"

"I called and told him I'd be spending the night over with Akira and Ako," Yuuna shrugged. "Seemed willing to accept it, even after what happened, he still believes this building is safer than home."

"Yeah, well, about that thing that happened," Chisame said. "Sensei mentioned you were kidnapped, or something...?"

"Or something nothing!" Yuuna said, sitting down on the floor before them. "Maki-chan, Ako and I were taken hostages and spirited away to a castle in the woods! And that castle belong to a Turbo Crazy Loli who-!"

"Illyasviel von Einzbern, from Gartland," Negi calmly said, sitting down by Yuuna's side. "Before your arrival here, I made a quick search online and found the old Einzbern castle in the mountains was recently claimed by the latest heiress of that dynasty. It's official, the proper documents were filed with Headmaster Konoe."

"Konoka's grandpa approved of that?!" Yuuna gasped.

"I doubt he had any suspicion they'd go as far as to resort to kidnapping, Yuuna-san," her teacher tried to calm her down. "Now, you were telling me this girl had some female bodyguard of unusual strenght...?"

"Berserker," Yuuna said. "She called her Berserker, but her real name is... it sounds like some kind of medicine? Peniciline, Penthecostes, Pentothal..."

"Penthesilea, I would assume," Satomi pushed her glasses up her nose with a finger. "According to the Greek myth, she was one of the Queens of the Amazons, under her elder sister Hippolyta. Both of them were daughters to Ares, God of War, and fought Heracles, later known by the Romans as Hercules, who stole Hippolyta's fabled belt as part of his Twelve Tasks. Later, the Amazons would fight along the Trojans against the allied forces of Greece, and during that conflict, Achilles was said to have killed Penthesilea, who cursed him with her dying breath."

Asuna grew greatly interested. "So Yuuna met Wonder Woman's aunt?!"

Misora stiffened uncomfortably. "Mrrrmmm. W-Well, that's an interesting choice of stage name for a wrestling musclewoman employed by a loli as her bouncer..."

"Cut the crap, Kasuga, I'm too far down the rabbit hole already," Yuuna told her. "I've seen things that you wouldn't believe!"

"Have you seen one of our classmates fly up wrapped in black bats and proclaim herself a vampire?" Misa asked.

Yuuna blinked. "When did Eva-chan do that?!"

"Why... Why would it have to be Evangeline-san?" Negi asked, even more uncomfortable than Misora was.

"Have you seen a fairy controlling vegetal life turn a whole forest against you?" Asuna asked next.

"No, I haven't ever- What the hell is going on with your lives, people?!" Yuuna was bewildered.

"Have you ever seen a handsome talking ermine?" asked the little furry vermin on Satomi's head.

Yuuna grunted. "Don't get funny with me, Ermine-san, you aren't hands- KYAAAA!" Yuuna pulled back. _"That, that thing talks?!"_

Negi pouted. "That was rude, Chamo-kun is not a 'thing', He's certainly as sapient and self-aware as Heroic Spirits are," he added, pouring some tea for Yuuna, who now stared very widely and pale at the small white animal. "So you have ran into Berserker, and today the girls met Lancer and an Avenger, which is not supposed to exist. That is very interesting, now if we only could-"

"I, I, I have talked with Saber and Caster too!" Yuuna managed to stammer out. "And Saber fought another Saber and wrecked our home!"

"Sounds like you've been having a kinda rough week," Sakurako sympathized.

"Yeah, you could say so!" Yuuna snapped. "How about you, how long have you been wrapped in this mess?!"

"Since the very afternoon Sensei moved here," Chisame gloomily replied, making Negi blush and look away. "He's just that bad keeping his secrets. You are just the latest proof in a long, long chain of evidences on the subject."

"Oh," Yuuna said, then pointing at Chamo. "And so is he, isn't he? And that's why they turned him..."

"Nooo, I'm a born and bred pure Caith Sith ermine fairy!" Chamo protested. "I've never been human, they've never pinned anything serious on me, and all evidence is already long gone!"

"That's not a reassuring statement at all!" Yuuna snapped at him.

"Yuuna-san, please," Negi begged. "Let's just focus on the matter at hand, okay? Are you sure that was another Saber? Because only a single representative of each class is supposed to take part in a given Holy Grail War- you've been told what's a Holy Grail War already, haven't you?"

"Yeah, more or less."

"All right," Negi nodded. "There's been a single reported case, in the scarce files that survive from the Third War, of a dual summon, but in that case both Masters worked together, not against each other."

"Um, yeah, in this case, the Sabers are pretty much each other's enemy. Saber-san is the father of the other Saber-san."

"Don't tell me!" Chisame said, rubbing her forehead and fighting the mounting headache off.

"They've got a lot of bad blood with each other, let me tell you," Yuuna said. "And then there's Caster, who is a literal witch and has her eyes on Dad, and has these freaky pointy ears like an extra in a Lord of the Rings movie. And yeah, she kinda saved our lives so I realize maybe I'm being an ingrate, but..."

"Well, at least she's got good taste, your dad's hot," Asuna said.

Yuuna glared at her.

"What?" Asuna smiled at her. "Isn't that why you're a Papacon?"

"You aren't half as funny as you think you are, Asuna..."

"Enough, please!" Negi said, looking at his wristwatch. "By now, Caren-san and Avenger-san must have left already for that duel with Lancer-san and whoever his Master is!"

"And so what?" Chisame shrugged. "Are we supposed to do anything about that?"

"She's our next door neighbor!" Negi reminded her. "We can't just let her march to her death when Yuuna-san barely escaped hers...!"

"So we're going to march with her into it instead?" Chisame pressed on, frowning. _"For someone we've just met and who was fully prepared for this crazy death battle thing, unlike us?"_

"I haven't even met her yet," Yuuna said.

"No, _**we**_ won't," Negi grimly said, pulling a wand out of his breast pocket. "However, _**I**_ will-"

"Negi," Asuna said matter-of-factly. "We've gone through this before. You know the sleeping spell won't work on me, and you also know that when they wake up, the other girls will kick your butt for making them sleep, and then mine if I let you walk into danger alone. So let's not even try this time, okay?!"

Negi cringed, grumbled, and finally lowered the wand. "Okay..."

Yuuna was really worried now. "So... how many times have you gone through this already, then...?"

"Let me reassure you," Hakase told her, "this is the absolute first time such a chain of events concerning our unofficial association involves a long deceased Queen of the Amazon culture."

"Oh, that sure is a major relief, then!" Yuuna huffed.

* * *

Caster smiled at the scrying she had been running on Yuuna, then briefly set it aside to go look for Saber. The children were still doing their homework and Fujimura was still grading school papers, so that left Caster with a time window large enough for what she intended to do.

By now, she knew Saber well enough as to guess where she would be, especially after the last day's events. Saber entered the training hall of the house, and sure enough, Saber was there, having set around half of carefully placed workshop equipment as to have enough room to pounce on a training dummy with one of Taiga's boken.

Caster sighed to herself. She hated Servants with Magic Resistance, so much. They always could make such a mess in any perfectly established magical laboratory. Swallowing those feelings, she moved towards Saber, who was wearing the red garments she usually would have under her armor, and fiercely reduced the by now barely recognizable dummy to even more of a ruin, whacking furiously on it. Heroic Spirits need no training and can gain scarce to nothing from it, so it was clear Saber was only venting herself out, the only way she could.

"You always could contract with me instead, you know," the magic user said.

Saber finally stopped, looking back at her bitterly, over her shoulder. "What?!"

Caster pulled her hood down, which Saber knew was only intended so the witch could present herself as more human and trustworthy. "There are ways for me to take other Servants in a pseudo-Contract, and I can gather mana for you from these rich leylines. That is bound to yield more results than what little Miyu-sama's brother can provide."

Saber huffed, slinging the boken over one shoulder and turning around, looking at Caster with narrow-eyed contempt. "Don't you tell me!"

Caster nodded. "I am specially gifted even for those of my Class, and I easily could arrange a link between the two of us. We compliment each other, Saber. You can provide the muscle I lack, and I will in return supply you with untold options of support."

"I pass," Saber replied without any shadow of doubt, shaking her head. "I'd rather take my chances with a weak Master than a slippery one."

"I wouldn't ever betray you as long as you didn't make an attempt on me first," Caster promised.

"Just like you aren't betraying the little girl even now?"

"I am not going against Miyu-sama's interests in any way," Caster said very solemnly. "For Shirou-san to be relieved of a responsibility he is clearly unfit for is obviously in the best interests of all of us."

"I still pass," Mordred insisted. "Masters are Masters and Servants are Servants, I'd rather keep things straight as they are. I've played out of the rules before, and I was scalded enough to know better now. If you've got any smarts, you'll do the same."

Caster shook her head. "I'm afraid your Class and mine have completely different ways to approach conflicts. By my own nature, I must resort to subterfuge. But I trust we will be able to understand each other on this subject, eventually. In the meanwhile, do you want to see a battle between two of our enemies?"

Mordred blinked. "A what of what?"

Later, as they sat at the middle of the guest room Caster had been given, Saber looked around and frowned. "Why don't you just set your workshop here?"

"Not enough room at all," Caster answered, putting her hands on the purplish crystal ball on the red cushion on her small table, and moving them around until the translucid surface began showing images of one boy and seven teenaged girls moving across a riverbank, heading towards a suspension bridge in the distance. "Ah-hah, those are them, and they are still alive, thank goodness..."

"Wait a minute," Saber said, "where did you get yourself a crystal ball?! Is that a Noble Phantasm of yours, or...?"

"I just rummaged through Mr. Kiritsugu's things. You wouldn't begin to guess how many artifacts he had stashed, and it was child's play for me to improve upon them. Now look, this is Yuuna-chan's adorable prodigy boy teacher, who would probably look excellent in foxgirl cosplay..."

"Okay, so you've moved on from stalking Shirou and I to stalking the daughter of the man you claim to like and her friends?"

"It's the least I can do for a poor, still grieving discreet, thoughtful and considerate man in need for someone to help with his rebellious child," Caster offered piously. "That it presents us with a chance to eavesdrop on two enemy Servants happens to be a mere accidental bonus on my noble task of looking after this troublesome girl."

"So... you are using her as your spy," Saber frowned. "That.. That's low, woman..."

"I never told her to go get herself involved any further into the businesses of this War after what has just happened to her!" Caster protested. "Do you want to watch, yes or not?"

"I'd rather be there fighting myself," Mordred groaned, "but I suppose it makes good tactic sense to wait for those two wear each other down first. Then I'll move in and take the survivor down, knowing what to expect from them..."

Caster nodded. "I'm not sure Miyu-sama's brother will agree with that, but it's a fine, rather smart strategy, Saber. I am impressed, you are not only good looks..."

Saber smiled, her male pride of being flattered by an attractive woman pleased, even if she knew her real reasons. "Don't mention it. I was an accomplished tactician in my time, didn't you know? Of course, simple plans are always the ones to work best, but... The fight's going to take place on the bridge, right?" she frowned, seeing Negi and company set down and hiding behind some thick bushes, looking up at the bridge, completely deserted at that hour save for a single figure in blue, shrunken by distance, pacing back and forth along it, swinging something long and blood red. "Can't you get us a decent close up?"

Caster nodded, concentrating. "I'll move my familiars closer," she promised, moving her hands around the ball, and moments later Saber was staring at a much clearer and tighter picture of...

"Lancer!" the blonde warrior grinned in anticipation. "That's got to be him!"

"Where is the other one, however?" Caster pondered. "And his Master? I'll send more familiars to sweep the area, they-"

 _"LANCER!"_ a booming female voice rang through the magical signal, a voice so filled with rage and vitriol even Mordred felt a brief pang of discomfort and disgust. _"I am here, you filthy dog! Prepare to die!"_

Saber and Caster leaned closer, wide eyed, until their foreheads almost touched each other, and they watched, with great interest, how a pale figure in black body armor jumped onto the bridge from a great distance, landing on her feet before Lancer and growling viciously. An ominous standard bearing the image of a dragon in a hand, a long sword in the other. _"Suffer and be roasted in the flames of Avenger, Spirit of Malevolence!"_

"Okay," Saber nodded, mildly impressed, "she gets the first extra points for style of the night, at the very least. Maybe this will be interesting to watch on its own merits after all..."

* * *

"Oh, yes, didn't you hear?" Shinohara Wakaba asked as they walked back to the female dormitories of Ohtori Academy, after a long day of classes. "Himemiya-san moved out!"

"Really?" the petite, long brown haired Kishinami Hakuno asked in turn, quietly taking another small bite from the melon bread she had bought on the way back. "That's strange, why would she do that at the middle of a school term?"

"I heard she was transferred to Mahora," the hazel-eyed Wakaba commented conspiratively, lowering her voice, "and that she was seen with another man, apparently the Headmaster had enough of that already...!"

"But, what about the Student Council?" Hakuno asked. "Did they really let her go, just like that? I thought she was their important secretary, or something like that..."

Wakaba huffed, in that half petulant, half adorably childlike and innocent way of hers. "I'm sure they'll do fine without her! Especially Saionji-sempai..."

"If you say so," Hakuno wisely chose not to dwell any further into the subject, as Wakaba sighed dreamily, briefly closing her eyes and smiling to herself. "Maybe she just went through the same time that happened to me."

Wakaba chuckled. "I doubt anyone else could have gone through something like _that_ , Hakuno-chan," she commented slyly. Then, much more seriously, even actually worried, "Had any ideas on what are we going to do about him then?"

Hakuno shook her head as they passed under one of the many stylish, red rose covered arcs of white marble that ornated the boulevards of Ohtori's campus every so often. "Perhaps he'll just go the same way he arrived? At the very least, he doesn't seem dangerous after all..."

Wakaba let a small groan out, dropping her head slightly. Hakuno smiled at her slightly; whenever her frail looking roommate did that, it only added to the vaguely comical image she gave of a cute onion on a spindly body, accentuated by her choice of hairstyle. "Other girls bring lost puppies and kittens home, but only you'd bring a-"

 _"Shhhhh,"_ Hakuno discreetly silenced her, with a finger on her mouth, as a couple of male students from the senior classes passed them by in the opposite direction, talking among themselves, and Wakaba quickly took a hand to her own mouth, shutting herself up. After they were out of hearing range again, Hakuno only shrugged. "If he isn't gone or starts talking before a week I'll consult Father Phahn on the subject, ask him what to do..."

Wakaba blinked cluelessly. "The weird priest from the chapel? Why him...?"

"Miki-san says he's very knowledgeable on the occult, and I'm starting to think there's something occult about this guy," Hakuno confessed as they reached the gates of the dormitories.

Wakaba tried to laugh that of stiffly. "Oh, come on, Hakuno-chan...!"

"No, I mean it," Hakuno said, very serious, while both girls went up the stairs. "Sometimes, big as he is, he seems to disappear while I'm not looking... and then he appears again when I least expect it. Hasn't it ever happened to you?"

"I'd be happy if he'd just disappear on me forever," Wakaba confessed as both students stopped by their living quarters' front door in the second story. Hakuno did not exactly share this feeling, not completely at least, but of course she couldn't blame Wakaba for feeling this way, if anything she'd been too understanding so far. It was, actually, insane keeping this guy here, in an all girls' dormitory, it would probably be insane keeping anywhere close to normal people; and yet, Hakuno could not have the heart to kick him out after finding him, broken in mind and spinning in the mud, four nights ago, after going out to check on the noise outside Wakaba could not hear.

"Kuro-san," Hakuno blandly called out, leaving her shoes by the door along Wakaba. "Are you still here?"

 _ **"... rrrthrrrr..."**_ came a quietly deep, gruffly brooding male voice from the dinning room. Wakaba flinched and stayed at the living room while Hakuno, unfazed, walked there and found him sitting, still at the same corner where they had left that morning, and still in the same hunchbacked, subdued pose.

Hakuno walked until she had stopped right before him, placing a hand on the scary big black helmet and rubbing it softly, as if petting a stray cat. "I'll prepare dinner now, Kuro-san. I hope you had a good day."

 _ **"... rrrthrrrrr..."**_ murmured the huge man in the all concealing black medieval armor with red streaks, a hideous, fearsome figure who simply sat stupidly all day long, doing nothing but occasionally disappearing and reappearing when you weren't looking. He would follow you if you asked him to, and if offered food he would quietly slip small chunks of what he would rip out of it with his gigantic hands in gauntlets under the helmet, and presumably into the mouth behind, but other than that he didn't seem to understand anything spoken or written to him. He didn't drink water and didn't ever seem to go use the bathroom. He wouldn't bathe, but he didn't smell either, neither good not badly. To a certain degree, it was like having a ghost just stationed there, but the supernatural had never scared Hakuno. Or the idea of it anyway, since this was the first actual supernatural... thing... she had ever ran into.

That first night, out in the night, Kuro-san, as she had called him, had seemed to be wrapped in some kind of hazy, sinister black fog or aura constantly swirling around his frame, but as soon as he had followed her inside, that seemed to have disappeared, only adding to Hakuno's puzzlement.

Right now, as the girl tied an apron around her waist, Wakaba maneuvered carefully to sit at the table, as far away as possible from the black knight she would stare at nervously the whole time. "I always wanted a knight in armor to ride into my life, but never like this," she attempted to chuckle her discomfort off, unsuccessfully as ever. "You know, Hakuno-chan, the worst part of it is not knowing how he _really_ looks. If we could see under that thing, I think I'd feel a bit more comfortable, even if he were horrible, but as it is, I just keep imagining things that are even worse and worse..."

"If you want to take it off, be my guest," Hakuno easily said from the kitchenette, not looking back from the meal in the stove. "Although I seriously think it might be a big too heavy for either of us to lift off him."

Wakaba shivered from head to toe. "Sometimes you're even creepier than him, Hakuno-chan...!"

 _ **"... rrrrthhhrrrr..."**_ the black knight kept on muttering numbly.

* * *

 _This won't take that long_ , Lancer thought to himself, even as he threw himself forward, repeatedly clashing against the ferally growling Avenger, making a point of attacking her from each angle to better gauge her overall defensive capacities. And Avenger was strong, of there could be no doubt, but she also seemed considerably slower than Lancer himself.

 _This bastard's good!_ _Damn him…_ Avenger inwardly swore, for while proud, she was no blind to other's own merits. She knew he was testing her so far, moving that accursed red spear with a speed she couldn't match, and if she didn't think of a good strategy to keep him at bay, he'd just pierce her through as soon as he saw he had solid chances to get away with it. She slammed the standard down and brought a small geyser of flames erupting from the bridge's metal to put some distance between them, buying herself more time.

"Oh, so you can do that too," Lancer smirked, moving back just enough as to avoid the unholy fire. "No surprise, you looked like a real spitfire from the start…"

Avenger just spat in his general direction, which he also dodged with ease, annoyingly enough. "Damned you and your taunts, spearman! You insult the nature of combat when you use it to strike idle chat!"

"Okay, do you want me to get serious? Let's!" Lancer said, flashing stepping ahead and striking at one flank of Avenger, the red spear actually managing to cut through the armor, although not deep enough yet. A tiny prickle of blood gushed out, darker than usual, and Avenger grinned demonically as Lancer swiftly pulled his weapon back out of the small wound.

"Oh, that is what I wanted!" the woman chuckled disturbingly, and the yellow eyes flared. "By giving me more reasons to hate you, you fuel me! Feel my spite, my utter contempt!" she howled, joyfully lunging for him with her blade. A simple enough attack, and when Lancer readied himself for it, blocking with his spear, Avenger just flashed him a psychotic smirk, instead swinging her standard as well. A massive burst of flame was shot towards Lancer, throwing him back and off balance; it was just then that Avenger followed in with the next part of the strike, now definitely pushing the sword to stab him in the ribcage…

"Oh my God!" Chisame gasped from where she and Negi's team were watching the fight far below. "She killed Lancer!"

"She isn't human!" Sakurako added.

Negi shook his head soberly. "No, that won't suffice. Not nearly enough, thank goodness… Chamo-kun? Do you have something already?"

The ermine on his shoulder kept on sniffling in all directions, then pointed a tiny paw eastwards. "Yoo-hoo! That way, Bro! And they're striped!"

Yuuna blinked. "What are WHAT?!"

Up on the bridge, Lancer pulled back to a standing straight position, smiling as he ran a hand over his fresh wound, then holding it before his face. "Oh, yes, maybe this won't be so much of a bore after all. Looks like I underestimated you, Sister."

Avenger frowned again, preparing herself. "Your overt familiarity sickens me. You know nothing of me, save that I will be your executioner."

Lancer tapped a foot down, readying another lunging dash. "You're a sad existence," he said with some sympathy. "I reckon I'll be doing you a favor." And with that, he bolted to her again, both warriors once again colliding in a spectacular shower of sparkles from the clash of blade and spear.

Rin watched on from her vantage point by a large tree at the opposite riverbank, holding colorful gems between each finger just in case the cloaking spell she had cast on herself wouldn't suffice. Which was a ridiculous idea, of course, but she always liked being two hundred percent on the safe side. Lancer was gaining an edge again, pushing his opponent back, thanks to his superior speed and, Rin suspected, strength. Not that Avenger was not strong herself, but she probably was a younger Heroic Spirit, judging from what she could see of her armor, and the scarce reports on the prior Avenger had talked of a pathetic being. That this one was holding her own as well as she had been was mildly surprising on its own.

Push came to shove, Rin told herself as she watched them push against each other, Lancer's Noble Phantasm was a practically unbeatable trump card. Not that Rin wanted to resort to it yet, and Lancer's admitted reluctance to go all out on women would probably make him even more reluctant than her, but the way she saw it, they had this battle in the bag. Now, if she only could see where Avenger's Master was hiding…

"Tag, you're it," said a feminine voice from behind her then.

Rin frowned, pondering whether just to swing back with the gems or not, but deciding it'd be in bad form considering the circumstances. She knew the voice, that of one of the girls talking to Lancer earlier. One of Negi Springfield's students. Rin turned around to look at the smirking girl with mismatched eyes who had just broken through her invisibility boundary field with the tip of a ridiculous weapon shaped like a gigantic paper fan, revealing Rin to those gathered begin her. "What do you want? I'm busy," the Tohsaka heiress said.

"Tohsaka Rin-san," Negi said very seriously. "So you are the Lancer's Master?"

"The school idol? No way!" Misa gasped. "Who's next, Tenjouin Saki?!"

Rin snorted delicately, a veritable contradiction nonetheless carried out perfectly. "Please, that airheaded woman doesn't have the slightest idea on anything. What are you doing here? I thought this was not your—Kya!" she yelped as Sakurako flipped her skirt up, making Negi blush and look aside. "Wh-What did you do that for?!"

"Wow!" Sakurako blinked. "White and blue stripes! You're an ace, Chamo-kun!"

The ermine familiar on Negi's shoulder grinned proudly. "Do I deliver, or what, hmmm?"

 _"How the hell can someone smell stripes?!"_ Chisame demanded.

"Oh ho ho ho, it's easy as long as they are on panties!" Chamo boasted.

"Shut… Shut up, you nudists! Perverts!" Rin's face flushed bright, ignoring Negi's rapid tongue tied apologies at her and holding her skirt down tightly. "Don't you dare meddling into the affairs of the Holy Grail War, even if you all were the children of the Thousand Master—Are you, by the way?" she directly asked Asuna. "How in the world did you break through my seal?!"

Asuna shrugged, slinging the harinsen back and over her shoulder. "I dunno, I just have a way to no-sell magical things like this. Is that your Servant too, by the way?" she asked, pointing upwards.

"No!" Rin seethed angrily. "A Master can't have more than one Servant at once, and anyway, why would I make my two Servants fight each other, and didn't you see Avenger's Master today-?!"

"No, no, I don't mean her, I mean _him_ ," Asuna insisted, moving the finger further upwards to prove her point. Everyone followed the finger with paling faces and saw the reason why Lancer and Avenger had stopped as well, gazing up at the huge black chariot pulled by fire breathing oxen that hovered high in the air, directly above them, manned by a giant of red hair, with bleached pale muscular flesh overran by thick red lines all over, as was his armor.

This man spread his arms, as thick as small trees, and roared with a voice that blared all across the river. Chisame had never heard a voice like that, not even while Evangeline had screamed in a paroxysm of superiority, that night at this very same bridge. Negi only could remember one similar instance, from five years ago while surrounded by snow and fire, and that chilled him to his core.

 ** _"Hey, you down there! Servants and Mages, listen to me_**!" the titan shouted, and thunder cracked. "I am the Conqueror from Macedonia! I'm the ever living Pharaoh of the everlasting campaign! I am the man who will make this world submit to my army! I am Iskandar the Great, of the Rider Class, your King from now to the end of time!"

He smiled with narrowed eyes, staring down at Lancer and Avenger, both of whom closed ranks against him, preparing their weapons. "And you," he told them, "are my soldiers."

Asuna looked back at Rin, even though everyone else could do nothing but gaping. "So, you haven't answered me yet. Is he your Servant, or n-"

"Oh, will you shut up already?!" Rin figuratively exploded.

* * *

 **End of Chapter Four.**


	6. History in the Making

Bruce Wayne, while not being a downright hateful man, hated a fair amount of things.

He hated being called a hero.

He hated those who would call themselves heroes without meeting the requirements- quite steep ones, in his view of the world- for it.

He also really, really hated magic.

The man in the black and gray bat costume was crouched down at the middle of an underground laboratory. Said laboratory- Wayne understood magi would rather call them 'workshops'- was located under a small house in the outskirts of Academy City, close to the sea. It was a veritable chamber of horrors, not only because of all the arcane, macabre artifacts and images of forbidden, repulsive lore in it, but because of the still fresh young bodies stripped down and attached to engines whose utility he barely could begin understand. And at the middle of it all, right under the examining eye of the human bat, the lifeless body of a man, the same Wayne had stalked in Gotham, before being sidetracked by the Joker's latest mad scheme.

"I'm sorry," he softly told the victims of this other madman, but also the madman himself, for murder was murder, whoever it was commited upon. He closed the man's eyelids with his fingertips gloved in black and studied the deadly wound running from his chest to his stomach. A zigzagging perforation, made by strong, obviously raging hands. Not the hands of any of the young girls who had been found days ago, wandering with no memories around the local waterfront. Most likely, the hands of whatever Atrum Galliasta had unleashed upon the world.

"You shouldn't be," said a husky, intoxicating voice from the shadows behind him, and the Batman frowned, rising back to his booted feet. Slowly, he turned around and faced the familiar figure of firm, athletic curves, clad in the black and body hugging spy catsuit. By each side of hers stood a hulking, grimacing man heavily armed. Assassins of the League of Shadows.

"Talia," the Batman growled at the woman of long dark hair and large, sad brown eyes. "I should have known your father would be behind this."

"Beloved," Talia al Ghul dryly replied. "Surely, if my father placed any faith on the doings of these people, he would have joined them in their pursuits long ago. He has the best mystics of the East at his beck and call, and it has been so since long before these farces started. However, he has been wise enough to recognize the folly of involving himself in these mad rituals."

"Then why are you here?" the costumed vigilante asked her.

"Much like yourself, we have been trailing this man with the hopes he would lead us to the latest Heaven's Feel," Talia readily answered. "Months ago, several relics were stolen from our order's headquarters. The bone mask of the best poisoner in our history. The cloak of our stealthiest agent. The bones of our most fanatical zealot. Even a piece of the armor reputed to have belonged to the Founder."

"And do you think Galliasta was the culprit?"

Talia shook her head. "As you must know as well, we are aware he bought the means to invoke another to fight in his stead. But he was the best clue we had to learn from this latest iteration of the mad contest. Beloved, you must understand the meaning of these thefts, their importance. To summon a spirit from our ranks, technically, no catalyst is necessary. By the mere mention of the name of the Hassan, a member of our lineage will answer the call... but which one, there is no way to know. What the mastermind behind these thefts intends, then, is an impossibility, a complete token of the purest insanity, from our viewpoint or the magi's. And yet, the mere fact they were able to commit the sacrilege at all... it makes Father fear they might, somehow, be able to perform it."

The Batman pondered this in a grim silence. "I know a man here who might be able to help us."

* * *

 _Fate Stay Night_ , _Fate Prototype_ , _Fate Zero_ , _Fate Hollow Ataraxia_ , _Fate EXTRA_ , _Fate Extella_ , _Fate Apocrypha_ , _Fate Strange/Fake_ , _Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya_ , _Fate Requiem, Fate School Life_ and _Fate Grand Order_ all are the creation and intellectual property of Nasu Kinoko and Type-Moon.

All other featured and mentioned franchises belong to their respective copyright owners.

With Special Thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, Darkenning, Kamenhero25, Moczo, Ol'Vesper, GhostXavier and The Infamous Man for the inspiration.

* * *

 **Lovely Magical Collectible Waifu Game of Death!**

* * *

 **Chapter Five.**

* * *

 **History in the Making.**

* * *

 _Casa de Emiya:_

"No way!" Mordred said, shoving Caster out of the way to get a better look at the crystal ball. "What's with that guy making a random appearance out of nowhere just like that, and breaking a cool fight to boot?! I wanted to see who'd win!"

"Well, excuse me!" an irate Caster fumed, recomposing herself and rubbing herself on the cheek Saber had just applied pushing pressure onto. "I don't have the answers for that yet, but maybe if you let the individual with actual intelligence to gather intelligence...!"

Miyu peeked into the room, in baby blue pajamas and holding a Neco Arc plushie in a hand. "Why are you fighting now?"

"We aren't fighting, Miyu-sama, we simply are having a heated but civil exchange of opinions," Caster piously explained. "Please get back to your bed, I can deal perfectly with Saber's barbaric behavior on my own..."

"Barbaric?!" Saber snapped. "My people brought civilization by kicking your pointy eared people down the holes you had crawled out of, so who's the primitive one here, Caster?!"

"The one shouting like a savage, I would say!"

"I'm not shouting, I'm just heatedly giving you my _very civil_ opinions! Whenever I actually shout, I also swing my blade around!"

Miyu frowned slightly, then held her plushie up in the same way one would hold a slapping paddle. Caster and Saber immediately shrank into reluctant silence like chided children.

"That's much better," Miyu approved, nodding and walking towards the crystal ball. "Then, what is so interesting there anyway...?"

* * *

"What is the meaning of this trickery?!" Avenger demanded while Rider's chariot descended majestically, landing before her and Lancer. "Your soldiers?! Should this be a jest, the only acceptable punchline would be your demise! I take no marching orders from anyone anymore!"

"Yet that would contradict the nature itself of being called a Servant, wouldn't it?" Rider gravelly observed before a smile tugged at the coarse corners of his lips again. "But that is for the best, as now I stride through this world without a human to call me Master. You, too, can join me in this release should you wish so." He raised a hand and made a gesture of crushing something in it. "Truly, these times are ripe for the conquest. March by my side and you shall be granted territories even your wildest legends could only have hinted at. Standing by me, there is no manner you could conceivably fall!"

"You talk a lot like someone who once brought me quite a lot of headache," Lancer said while his earlier wound from Avenger slowly healed, taking advantage of the Rider's speech. "I didn't ply to that person's words, why should I obey you?"

Rider chuckled. "I once knew one just like you, Lancer. You remind me greatly of him! A romantic spirit hoping for justice, no doubt so much like yourself. What say you, Black Servant? I can feel an affinity of sorts with you. Have you been touched by the Dark Embrace as well?"

"I have no idea what you're saying, Rider," the pale woman grumbled. "I am Avenger, relentless spirit of revenge upon the living. As such, I don't recognize you or anyone as my equal. Now, enough of words!" she swung her sword ahead. "Let me have your neck!"

Rider hummed, slowly getting down the chariot and readying his own blade. "Avenger, is that so... Yes, yes, it's just like that white princess suspected, one of you would come into being..." He grinned widely, with a spark of excitement in his eyes. "Come forth then and show me your potential, children! You will yet be my warriors in this glorious crusade!"

"Begone to Hell!" Avenger roared, jumping on him with crazed intensity, her cursed sword blazing in flames as it clashed against the thunderously laughing Rider's. Lancer flashed a nearly psychotic smirk of his own, thrilled of joining a three way combat after so long, but much to his chagrin he was held back when Rin's voice sounded in his mind.

 _Lancer,_ she said, _Hold back!_

He grunted, annoyed. "What is it? In the event you haven't noticed, I've got two big fish to reel out..."

 _These children you spoke to earlier have just meddled in, and I'm afraid they could get hurt in the crossfire. Don't make it any worse than you have to!_

"Well, then send them back home!" the upset Servant said, looking as Avenger and Rider clashed again and again. Overall, Avenger seemed to be having an easier time here, since Rider's speed was certainly lower than Lancer's, and perhaps he wasn't going all out on her, as if trying to gauge her first. "I'm not going to miss on this one!"

"You are moved purely by rage, but hold no special training of your own," Rider calmly lectured Avenger while blocking her latest sword thrust with his _spatha_. "That puts you in a disadvantage, as mere killer intent will not suffice through a war. You should set your mind on a higher goal to motivate you."

"Death and revenge stand over everything else!" Avenger bellowed, using her other hand to drive the standard against Rider's stomach, denting the armor greatly but not quite breaking through it, and pushing him back, elicting an annoyed grunt from him. "There are no greater truths in this world. I laugh at you and your paltry dreams of conquest! Yes, I shall taunt you! I shall wave my private parts at your aunties! You cheesy secondhand electric donkey bottom biter!"

She was French, after all.

Rider broke into boisterous laughter, even as Lancer slowly walked towards the fight, measuring both opponents with his gaze. "Death? I have looked at Death into its face! I have been assimilated by it, made into its agent, and yet my spirit remains the same! Death always rides with any warrior, that is part of what we are! Don't lecture me on death, child, Death is not a warrior's Master, but their tool! Death is something we spread to conquer and control, not something that controls us to do its bidding. As long as you hold that mindset you will never prevail as a soldier!"

 _"Blasphemous..."_ Avenger's anger sizzled at these words, her teeth clenching. "Lancer!" she called out. "What have you to say on this man's insanity?!"

"There's both wisdom and foolishness to you, Rider," Lancer smiled at the giant. "You, too, remind me of some other man I once knew, and not just of that woman from my youth. In a way, you are much like both of them, with all the good and bad that implies. But, I have already sworn my loyalties to someone who would never stand by your credo. As long as I stand, I will never betray her for you or anyone."

"I see," Rider pondered with a much more serious nod. "I can respect that. A warrior's word is their unbreakable pledge of honor. Perhaps, however, I should have an audience with that Master of yours, to see myself if she is so inflexible to my reasons herself."

"I'm her secretary. You'll have to talk with me first!" Lancer said, and lunged ahead in another flash.

Back behind the tree, Rin took a knuckle to her mouth and bit delicately on it. "That damned fool..."

"All three of them," Misa nodded absently. "Negi-kun, maybe we should just leave already? I mean, what are we even going to do here anyway?"

"Who's the big guy anyway?" Asuna asked. "Iskandar, was that what he said? I don't recognize the name..."

"Alexander the Great, the greatest conqueror of his time," Negi grimly said. "He came to control Greece, Persia, Egypt, most parts of the India, and most of the civilized world in-between, all before reaching thirty. Only illness could stop his campaign before he reached the Pacific."

"Oh, you mean Colin Farrell!" Asuna said with an air of great enlightment, before turning back to look at where Rider just took and blocked on the combined onslaught from Avenger and Lancer while loudly laughing them out, being slow but surely pushed back but seeming to mind not much of it. "He doesn't look much like Colin Farrell, though..."

Rin briefly glared at Negi.

"I've only been teaching them for a few months," the boy offered. "I'm a mage, but I can't be expected to work miracles...!"

* * *

"There is something wrong here," a visibly disturbed Caster said.

"Well, that's what every Caster would say when they see a Servant who actually can fight, much less three," Saber replied.

"This... This is not the moment to be classist!" Caster protested. "There is something unnatural about this Rider. Exactly what, I can't say, but I still can feel it with every fiber of my being. He is not... working correctly."

"He seems pretty functional to me," Saber disagreed, poking a finger on the crystal ball, which now showed Rider rushing forward on his chariot and plowing past Avenger and Lancer, shoving them aside as roughly as possible. Miyu, for once, had to side with her against her own Servant, and thus nodded in silence.

Caster ran a hand down her face. "That's not what I meant. He is technically highly functional, as we can see, but there is something... altered about his basic composition. These bodies the Grail creates for us, they are structured differently from his, just like your father's. If you would pay close attention, you would see his skin and clothes even follow a similar color pattern to his."

Saber blinked, looking at Iskandar again as Avenger leaped on his chariot, stabbing him in the chest with her sword, and taking him off the vehicle and onto the bridge's surface. "Very well, yes, he does. Wait a minute. If Father is also a Saber, and he has an altered self compared to mine, then that means..."

"This Rider might not be the one meant to be our opponent," Caster nodded, while Avenger tried to finish Rider off by savagely tearing into him, only to be slashed away by a defensive swing of his blade, which drew blood and pushed her away. "This Rider and your father would appear to be tainted by some force I have yet to understand..." _But which might be greatly advantageous if exploited correctly_ , the sorceress thought with growing interest.

Miyu frowned. "You'd better not be thinking what I think you are thinking..."

"Hrrrmmm," Saber grumbled. "That might explain a few things about Father's behavior. I knew he was being more agressive than habitual. Maybe I should go fetch Shirou and join on this battle already..."

"No," Miyu said.

"Paddle or not, you can't tell me what to do, child!" Saber told her. "Do you think our time here is unlimited? Furthermore, do you think my pride will let me just sit back while others claim the glory of this contest away from me? Even if your brother is a liability, how else am I supposed to learn on the mysteries of this war? By just waiting until they ring on your door?"

"The familiars stationed here signal someone is ringing at our front door," Caster informed right then, quite unneccessarily as the bell could be heard ringing from said door at that precise moment.

"Weren't you supposed to have defenses set against that kind of thing?!" Saber cried out.

"My defenses are inexpugnable against Servants of any kind, and against humans who would break in furtively," Caster informed her, "but I cannot be expected to set traps to kill for anyone who walks for the front door and rings. I mean, I would like to have done so, but this family seems to be against that for some reason."

"It's called Part of Living in a Society," Miyu sighed.

"Do you mean, should anyone want to kill our Masters, all they'd have to do is ringing and then killing them as soon as they open the damned door?!" Saber yelled at Caster.

Caster frowned. "Do not use that tone on me! Who would be foolish enough as to just go and open in a situation like this?"

Shirou's voice sounded through the house then. _"I'm going...!"_

Caster and Saber froze in place.

"... you were saying?" Miyu blandly asked.

"Oh, come on," Shirou said as he passed by their door, fresh off a bath before bedtime, and clad in a houserobe, "Who would be dumb enough as to just ring and then kill in a situation like this? And what were you shouting about so much before that, anyway?"

Saber rushed out of Caster's room, going after her Master. "W-Wait, you imbecile! Who would be coming for a social visit at these hours, don't you ever think-?!"

Shirou, however, was already opening the front door... and then having his jaw slack down as he saw a huge man in a black and grey suit standing right on his doorstep, wearing a long cape and a sinister cowl ornated with two tall, sharp horn-like protuberances at the top.

"Does Emiya Kiritsugu still live here?" the stranger at the door growled. "Yes, you must be Shirou..."

"Ah, he... he died five years ago," Shirou very meekly said.

"He did?" the Bat-Man said, while a confused Saber stopped shortly behind Shirou. "Hnh. I knew I should have kept myself up to date on him, but... I hate magic. You might not remember me, but I was here when you were only a child, under a false name."

"Are you Mr. Patch?" Shirou weakly asked.

"No, that's someone else's undercover alias. I'm not **that** short, you should have remembered that..."

"Oh. Then... are you-"

"You knew me as Lefty Knox, then," the Batman curtly said.

"Ohhhhh. You know, that would have been like my sixth guess at best," Shirou confessed, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Um, aren't you supposed to enter houses breaking through the windows and skylights, or at least climbing up the walls first...?"

"I sort of respected your father. Plus, I figured you'd have the whole house surrounded by all sorts of magical wards and seals to keep people like me out."

Shirou blinked. "What kind of paranoid sicko would do that?"

"Shiroooouuuu..." Saber growled from behind him. "Who is this stupid looking freak, and why shouldn't I just cut him down right where he stands?"

"Oh, Saber, you were here," Shirou blinked.

She nodded bitterly. "Yes, always."

Shirou shuddered briefly. "Please don't say that, it reminds me of... a girl I had some problems with a while ago. Anyway, Saber, meet Batman-sama." He paused to make a small smile, and then added, sort of proudly, "A superhero."

"I really don't like being called that at all," Batman grouched. "Can I just talk with some responsible adult already, Shirou?"

"The closest thing we have is Fuji-nee," Shirou admitted. "You remember Fuji-nee, the girl who used to come by, right? Well, she's our legal tutor now, and moved here to look after us when Dad died..."

Batman's exposed, large square jaw began twitching very slightly.

"So you did get to know the tiger woman after all, huh..." Saber noted with a hum and a nod.

* * *

Neo-Tokyo, a mostly all new city built up from the ground after most of the old Tokyo had been wiped out under the sea by the Great Disaster, decade and half ago. In that short time it had risen quickly, despite the global crisis to follow, into a metropolis to rival the splendor of its sunken parent, barely rivaled by the nearby Academy City and the resurging Kyoto. The factories and industrial and medical laboratories built in the new urban center had played a large part in its steep development, from the products of long established global corporations like Lexcorp and Oscorp to those with secret ties to a much less well known world.

Our next act, surely enough, takes us to one of such laboratory complexes, where a nondescript man in a long white coat faced his similarly average wife with a stoic, hardened expression, and a simple and direct question.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

The woman nodded. "We have just received official confirmation from the church representative on the previous info leaks. All the Classes have been filled, plus containers for at least three anomalities, the Moon Cancer, the Avenger and the Foreigner. Assassin remains unreported yet, but they have confirmed its arrival upon the world, even if not its location."

"Then there is nothing left to do but terminating the initiative," the man turned to the young orderly standing by his side. "We will unplug the subjects. We won't be allowed any more budget after this."

"But, Doctor Kuruoka," the younger man said. "Your daughter...!"

"All three subjects are a liability now," the Doctor said, inflexible, beginning the way down the sterilized hallway. "Consider this a last chance for them. Would any extra Class container remain, there is a possibility activation will ensue as soon as the intended host body is threatened with cessation of vital functions. If not us, someon higher up the chain will give the orders."

"Yes, Sir," the orderly said.

These two academics of the mundane and arcane alike reached the white door at the hallway's end and entered the pristine room with the three small beds. In each, a frail, wasting body covered by white blankets up to the chest. Two females, one male. All of them bandaged at several points of their pale bodies, and yet so many marks of injections remained uncovered. The three employees stopped by a control switch attached to their life support unities, and the female doctor, without a moment of hesitation, nodded at the orderly. "Do it," was all she said.

The young man doubted, however, gripped by an icy feeling in his chest, a horrified rictus briefly marking his features. However, he took hand to the master switch regardless.

One of the young girls opened an eye.

"Wait," the male scientist stopped the orderly with a subtle rise of an eyebrow. "Perhaps this is it..."

Then there was a screeching, a deafening inhuman screeching, a wailing from Hell as the girl thrashed suddenly, like a corpse suddenly coming into unholy life, struggling against her restrains. One of her hands seemed to burn in crimson, and a miracle that never should have happened came to pass. As if in obscene mockery of all rules, a presence rose from her as if a ghost, much to the horror of the orderly and fascinated awe of the scientists. A shapeless dark mass with shifting bright eyes that moved across its surface, a spectre that hovered from the prone, wheezing, relaxing body, and slowly floated towards the researchers.

The woman smiled shakily, almost tearing up for the first time since childhood. It was beautiful, the crystallization of a shared dream, their true child. She reached for it even as if also shifted colors, flowing into a paler complexion, as it came to a gradual halt right before them. "We... We are your Masters," she stammered happily. "And you are-"

It spoke. Its voice, a harsh, unforgiving sound that would hurt the ears, a grating, continued scrapping of furious swarms of locusts fighting each other. It only spoke a word, but the horrible voice seemed to go on forever as it was spoken. _**"Rider..."**_

Then it lunged ahead, and engulfed all three of them.

Decay. Sickness. Degradation. And finally death. In blink, this befell them. They suffered for a very short time, yet it also seemed eternal, as every disease, every known illness and ailment, struck them before they would hit the floor, dead. The Rider paused over them only for a moment, as if silently contemplating them, before turning around without a sound, hovering back to the beds. It passed that of the one who had brought him, who now rested with only the motion of troubled breathing, eyes fixed on the ceiling. It stopped by the next bed, and turned those things that passed for eyes on the even smaller female on it. It stretched something out of its volume, something that would appear to be the vague outline of a skeletical hand, and reached down for her in what many would have interpreted as an act of mercy.

But then the girl in the next bed moved a hand and gently stroke that of the comatose child, which now also glowed faintly in red. _"S-So beautiful..."_ she whispered.

Rider moved back, not quite startled, as something else rose from this second girl, a small, fine volume decorated with a colorized John Tenniel illustration on its cover. A lovely young blonde girl, facing the playfully sinister figure of a huge grinning cat. The book hovered over the prone girl with pale pink hair, who slowly opened her eyes with great strain and effort, and said something in perfect old English of the Queen and including the elegantly pronounced word _'Caster'_ , even as Rider moved around it, as if curiously. Death as we understand it has no domain or interest over books, so Rider quickly lost that curiosity, if it even could be called that, so it moved to the final test subject instead, a boy a few years older, and the one in the worst shape of them by far. His records, pinned his bed, showed the longest historial of all three, and now something else was hovering over him as well.

This one was a man, or at least looked the part. A slim, yet vital figure wrapped in a long, ragged black cape, covering him from the neck down like a badly fastened shroud. A gray mask, featureless save for several vertical black stripes along its surface, covered the whole of his face, but the top of his head was exposed, revealing locks of waved dark red hair, stringing down the sides of the mask.

He knew Death, even if not in this form. He had faced it before, both from the receiving and granting sides, and so had an idea what he was facing as soon as he, somehow, laid eyes on the abomination. Under the cloth, he seemed to be griping on weapons, and tightly so. He seized this thing for a fight, and it seemed to return the intent, somewhat, before the first girl in some way worked her way slightly up her bed, supporting herself on trembling elbows. "Are you.." she coughed, before being able to ask the man, "Aro-kun's friend?"

"I am..." the man replied, unsure of what to do at this point, "Servant Rider."

She worked a painful smile for him. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Tsubaki."

Several armed guards broke into the room. "I believe," the book said, prim and proper, "some meanies are here to interrupt the tale before it starts."

"I'll deal with them," the human Rider said, seeing at last a situation he was equiped to deal with, but regrettably for the men, the shadow was faster to reach them than he was.

* * *

Lancer had pulled back momentarily as Rider and Avenger struggled with each other. _What do you say, Chief?_ he asked Rin though their mental link. _I've got a clear shot at them now. I could just use-_

 _Too early into the War,_ Rin opined, ignoring Negi's pleas for her to stop, call her Servant back, and retreat. _Other Masters could be watching..._

 _Damnit, girl!_ the Lancer replied. _It's an unique chance to take two at once, I could try the old fashioned way, but-!_

 _Then do it, Lancer!_ Rin commanded. _The old way!_

Lancer sighed inwardly, then pulled back, gathering power for a sprint, and charged forward. Misora, being a runner herself and having grown used to perceiving things at superspeed of late through use of her Artifact, could appreciate his motion the best out of all those present.

And then, just like that, he had rammed his weapon through Avenger's back and all the way through her body, then piercing Rider into his muscular chest, even breaking through the chestplate. He had just stabbed them into each other.

"Oh, oh my goodness!" Negi shouted, as the girls covered their respective mouths with their hands. "It's over now, isn't it..."

But Avenger shook and roared bestially, pulling forward and tugging herself and the Rider she was headbutting out of the spear's piercing penetration, both of them bleeding all over the metal beneath them. One in the darkest crimson, the other in an oily, thick black.

Both wounded Heroic Spirits paused in their conflict and watched back at the ever moving spearman in tights, then. Even with holes running through their torsos, they would not give up just yet.

Rider smiled placidly at the confused Lancer, his thick lips smacking together loudly even as his mouth drooled more of the black ooze that doubled for his blood. "Good, certainly very good, boy... But you have to realize, my conquest, no, ours, is _**just**_ unstoppable..."

Avenger looked far more hurt, standing on wobbly legs, but still refusing to drop, and staring iratedly at the bothersome spearman. _"Cretin...!"_

"They don't die even when they are killed!" Asuna gasped.

"They wouldn't even be Heroic Spirits otherwise," Rin hissed, eyes fixed on the mighty three. "However, this has gone too far by now. Pay attention. If you are fortunate, you only will witness this once in your lifetimes, but it shouldn't be forgotten regardless."

"Stay out of our fight, welp!" Avenger lashed back at Lancer, throwing her sword at him, and forcing the faster Servant to leap back, ducking under it. She used this brief break from him to engage Rider even more closely, pulling him further away from Lancer. "You," she all but spat on his features. "You are my true enemy...!"

 _"All evil is here..."_ Avenger growled throatily, grabbing the wounded Rider by the sides of his thick face, and pinning her standard under an arm.

And he grinned widely again. "Yes. Yes, indeed, it is..."

 _"The time for revenge has come!"_ she shouted, as her whole body was wrapped in flames.

"Do it," Rider challenged her, spreading his arms to show he would not defend himself. "See for yourself, how futile is restisting your General!"

 _"This is the roar of my soul that was polished by hatred..."_ she hissed on his face, slashing on his hardened cheeks with her fingernails.

Then she let go of him, ever so briefly, just long enough as to grab the standard again and hold it high above their heads, ready to bring it down.

 _ **"La Grondement Du Haine!"**_ Avenger shouted, slamming her standard squarely on the middle of Rider's broad chest, and then both exploded into a huge ball of blazes.

"It isn't going to suffice," Asuna suddenly found herself saying, her eyes wide, as if struck by a great enlightment he had no idea about, as if something from a long forgotten prior life had just seeped into her. "He's going to survive it!"

Rider, effectively, just began laughing thunderously through the fire, even as it consumed him and Avenger, and if anything, the laughter only grew even stronger by the second.

 _She's got him pinned in place, but he's laughing through it, Master!_ Lancer urged Rin, the blue Servant squinting through the fiery maelstrom. _If I'm going to do it, it has to be now...!_

Tohsaka berated herself harshly for a moment before making her mind up.

"Lancer!" Rin shouted. "Do it!"

"Got it, Chief," Lancer said grimly, taking a quick step back from the other two fighters, still standing stubbornly at the middle of the inferno, and readying his spear, power from long gone ages flowing into it for the final blow. He had always hated and avoided hurting women in the battlefield, going as far as to spare the woman who had brought nothing but ruin to himself and his country. And now, his actions could probably spell doom for not one but two women at once, should Avenger's still unseen Master choose to retaliate and could land a shot on her from wherever she was.

But he still trusted his Master's ability to get out of her side of the bind on her own, and mostly, just like Avenger herself, he understood it was folly to think of the pale blonde before him as anything but another warrior, a living weapon... and then, living only according some definitions of the word by human standards.

Just like himself.

 _"Gae..."_

Negi and Asuna, in the split second after that word was growled, tensed as if feeling something they couldn't quite explain.

Avenger, in her throes of sublime battle ecstasy, frowned and glanced back at him, through the dancing fire, standing still at the middle of the bridge, looking directly at the Lancer's face. As if daring him in a murderous and eerie silence.

Lancer ran forward, lifting his massive spear. Watching him like that, for the youngsters, was a surreal experience they could not quite explain. Like witnessing firsthand something out of battlefields from long before their birth and dramatic fantasy warfare, like in an epic movie.

The edge of the red spear's tip glinted with the moonlight, a perfect scarlet sparkle that accompanied Lancer's deep intonation, his voice booming across the whole riverbank...

 _ **"BOLG!"**_

Chisame had the irrational desire to shout, "It's pronounced 'blog', you relic!" as she stared in horror.

And the power was unleashed, and the air seemed to hum to deafening degrees, as the spear darted forward, with unerring accuracy, towards its intended goal.

* * *

"Shirouuuu," a pajama clad Taiga yawned, dragging her bare feet to the front door, "I heard someone ringing, what is it n-"

She stopped, blinking at the costumed figure at her doorstep standing between Shirou and Saber, and rubbed her eyes with both fists vigorously.

She looked at this tall, weirdly costumed man, then told Shirou, "But he isn't even dead yet...!"

"He looks dead inside," Mordred estimated, since she knew one thing or two on the subject.

Shirou sighed. "Fuji-nee, this is Lefty Knox-san, that fellow Dad helped to train."

"Why is he now cosplaying as an American urban legend?" Taiga asked, blinking several times.

"I'm Batman," Batman deadpanned.

Taiga blinked again, looked up and down at him, and then said, "Okaaaaaayyyyyyy..." She carefully closed the door after him. "Look, if you're here to arrest us because we have _this guy_ here..." Here she sardonically pointed a thumb towards Saber, "Let me tell you, not only I'm mildly offended we didn't rank Superman-sama, but this never was our idea in the first place."

"We're supposed to at least put some effort on the 'gas leaks' and the like excuses, Fuji-nee," Shirou groaned.

"Well, you're the one saying the guy Kiritsugu trained on explosives turned out to be the urban legend hanging with Superman-sam who is now real after all, are you telling me I should be the one holding back on the weirdness?!" Taiga protested, tossing her hands up and then turning around, gesturing at them to follow them into the dining room. "To hell with this, if I'm going to be handcuffed and taken away by a superhero at least I'll drink a darn coffee first. You can even have one too for the old times' sake, Lefty."

"Hnh," the Bat said as they followed her deeper into the house. "She hasn't changed much."

"For real?" Saber snorted. "I was under the impression this was her senility speaking. Life must have been rough on you, Shirou."

"I heard that!" Taiga roared from the lead.

"Nice," Saber nonchalantly said, stopping by the door of Caster's room and peeking inside as they passed it by. "Hey, how is it going?"

"It would appear Lancer has just pulled his trump card and defeated them both," Caster said, taking notes and allowing a shocked Miyu to watch two Servants get drilled through by a mystical spear throw, "But for some reason they aren't dissipating just yet. Who was that?"

"Nobody important!" Saber said, leaving the others behind so she could rush in, plopping back down by Miyu's side so she could look closely at the crystal ball, leaning towards it. "Oh, I missed on the best part, damn him...!"

The Batman paused by, looking back at them from a distance, and then kept on moving ahead, past a Shirou who had also stopped, genuinely intrigued at what the Servants were up to now. Reluctantly, however, he kept on following Fuji-nee and the alleged American vigilante into the dining room. Boy, he was going to feel dumb if this turned out only a local weirdo playing pranks while in cosplay after all...

Meanwhile, Caster, Miyu and Saber watched on how, despite dropping to her knees, barely supported on her standard, Avenger suddenly flashed with a renewed burst of reinvigorating energy, working back to her feet with a wicked grin. Lancer stared on, baffled, while the Gae Bolg returned safely to his hands.

"Normally, I would be dead now," she admitted, fixing her crooked expression on the man in blue. "However, it was to your misfortune my own Noble Phantasm immolates me whenever I trigger it. When you pierced me through, I was already dead, and you can't kill someone twice. As you can see, though, I have revived thanks to a special loophole in the working of my Phantasm. One you will never be able to exploit, Child of the Light."

Lancer scowled angrily, while hidden in the shadows, somewhere else in the riverbank, Caren Ortensia tightened a fist, now with another Command Seal less, and smiled to herself.

"Of course," Avenger sneered, looking back at Rider long Lancer, "that doesn't explain how THIS gorilla survived it..."

"It is as you say," Rider said, more than half of his torso missing now, a barely held together mess of torn apart flesh strung on by thick oozing black tendrils of whatever flowed within his body. "You cannot kill what is already dead, Maid of Orleans, Ireland's Finest! Ho ho, the other Lancer would be even happier to meet you now, boy! I like you both. I really do. But, I cannot partake with you any longer. You gave a good sport, but even you will not stop the march of the dead. Farewell, my soldiers," he flipped them a salute with a huge grin and two shaken fingers. "Consider this a preview of what you will be able of, when marching to the Shadow! _**Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"**_

The laughter was, perhaps, still more hearty than sinister, but still blew utter terror into the hearts of Rin, Negi and his students, as the Conqueror of Macedonia disappeared into the night, as if evaporating.

"Did we nail him?" Avenger wondered aloud.

"We wish," Lancer grumbled, fighting the strange chill down his spine. "That doesn't make any sense. Nothing should ever survive a direct hit from Gae Bolg. Nothing..."

"Neither should he have survived my flames," Avenger pondered grimly, looking genuinely concerned for a moment before the maniacal smile returned. "But, I will take care of him later, some other way! First, there is the matter of you still drawing breath, but not for long..."

"Avenger, stop," Caren said, stepping out of the shadows and onto the now ruined bridge, much to the surprise of Negi, Rin and 3-A. "Enough of this, for now."

Avenger turned on her. "You're down to only one Seal by now, bitch of the church. Don't pressume you can order me around anymore..."

"Hey," Lancer huffed. "If I'm guessing this right, she did that to save your life, is this how you'll repay her?"

"This isn't any business of yours, Mutt!" Avenger warned him. "I'm the Spirit of Misplaced Revenge, and my thanks are no less twisted. I will never apologize for that!"

"There's nothing I hate more than betrayers," Cu Chulainn warned her back. "Enemy or not, begin to try and harm that girl and you'll feel Gae Bolg's bite again."

"And this time, I won't be wasting my last Seal to order you back," Caren casually added, nodding Lancer's way. "Thank you very much, Son of the Sun. No doubt, you have understood it by now, as well."

Avenger groaned. "Understood what?!"

Lancer nodded at Caren, making a point of ignoring Avenger now. "Yeah. This is not the way a proper War should be playing itself out. There's foul play afoot here, only threatening all of us."

"Well, foul play is my specialty!" Avenger complained, slamming the standard down. "Why are you acting as if I weren't around anymore, Master?! Lancer?!"

"Call forth your Master," Caren told Lancer. "We might have need for a truce at the time."

"That might be difficult, _Nee-chan_ ," Lancer admitted with a shrug. "My Master is a stubborn, headstrong woman who doesn't work well with others. She's too proud to admit when she worries about something, and too arrogant to ever admit weakness. If you had to call her some way, I suppose the term 'Human Mule' would fit her personality rather-"

A Gandr shot then hit his head squarely from behind.

Avenger laughed at this.

* * *

Katsuragi Misato lived in one of Neo-Tokyo's most exclusive towers, as it would befit someone in a laboral position like hers.

Few knew what Misato really did for a living, though. Her sister-in-law and her nephew Keima, who currently studied in Academy City's Mahora, barely understood it when she explained it in terms as clear as she was allowed to use. The organization she worked for technically did nothing that could be admitted in the open yet, and officially they were labeled a special agency of applied research developments for support of the Japan Defense Forces. Mari- this was her sister-in-law- had once asked her if this meant she had some scientific knowledge herself, and Misato had to admit she didn't have any.

"Then," Mari had asked, "what do you even _do_ there?"

Misato had smiled sadly and replied honestly. "I prepare myself for the end."

Tonight, this woman- still deeply attractive, with a curvaceous and firm body well trained by years of military preparation, and long, black hair with a lot of purplish hues to it- sat after another long, grueling day of such preparations, splayed before the TV in a skimpy hot pink top and Daisy Dukes, and scratching herself on the cooch with the hand not holding a can of Ebisu beer. Sitting by another corner of the living room, her roommate, a rather odd water fowl brought from the Antarctica, ignored both her behavior and the trashy talk show on the screen with practiced stoicism, savoring the book in his small, feathered... _hands_... as he flipped through it, at his own measured pace.

Yes. A _rather odd_ water fowl.

Misato's phone rang. She reached over for it and groaned drunkenly into it. "Hello?"

"It's me," said a female voice. "There's been a situation at Harwey Labs. I'm going to check on it."

Harwey were one of NERV's most important suppliers. They had contacts with... _those people_ , so they could provide the organization with all manners of products and components necessary for the task at hand, and which even the scope of modern conventional science could fall short of achieving. For instance, they were the ones to supply the biomechanical units with the liquid they needed for their maintenance, a fluid much similar to blood developed from samples taken from the entity that had caused the Second Impact. It was no surprise, then, that Ritsuko had a way of knowing whenever there was problem afoot there; for all Misato knew, she had a direct line with the damn place. Still...

"Let me guess. You want support, right?" Misato said, glancing briefly towards her roommate, who had perked up in mild alert.

"All communications with the staff have been cut, and the Commander asked me to look into it before sending anyone else," the other woman's voice answered. "Tell him I'll be there in six minutes."

The call was cut short, and Misato groaned, turning around lazily to face the petite water fowl, who was now reaching over for a purple coat to button on himself. "Hey, Drake, it's Rit-chan," she said. "She wants to get dangerous."

Six minutes later, after her own quick superpowered dash across the rooftops of half the city, Doctor Akagi Ritsuko stood on the edge of an office building's top, overlooking the wide installations of the laboratories below, across the street. She still was relatively new at doing these things, ever since one of the cats she used to pick off the street to keep in her apartment- which made her a cat lover with a successful profession, you have to understand, _not_ a crazy cat lady- had talked to her, making her believe she **had** , at some point, indeed turned into a crazy cat lady. But then the cat taught her the words, and then even the Commander could not deny what she had become.

 _"Pluto Star Power. Make Up."_

A ridiculous phrase to be sure, but the power that came with it- power to make even the Commander respect her now, or at least so Ritsuko fooled herself into thinking- more than made up for it. At the very least, it was nowhere as stupid as-

"I am the terror that flaps in the night..." a male voice came from the shadows of the rooftop.

Ah, as if on cue. Ritsuko turned around on her high heeled dark green boots and faced said shadows, applying the pressure of two fingertips on her own forehead, right between her scalp and the golden tiara that came with the costume. "Please, we don't have to go through this every time..."

"I am the winged scourge that pecks in your nightmares..." said the voice, purple smoke sprouting from the shadows and preluding his foreboding, ominous appearance.

Sailor Pluto grumbled, stomped through the smoke, grabbed the small figure outlining itself amidst the purple by its beak, and pulled it out towards herself. "I am- Owww! Ow ow, ow, ow, mind the hands!" he complained, shaking her grab off and then rubbing the masked face under the wide brimmed purple hat. "You still don't get how these things are done..."

Akagi glared condescendingly at this creature, the one who technically had rescued Misato fifteen years ago, making sure to swim the escape capsule her father had placed her into to the safety of the warships stationed around the point of impact. As it should be obvious from his inhuman apperance, he hailed from _that place_ , the so-called Mundus Magicus where _those people_ , the ones who didn't live their lives according to science and rationality but arcane arts of dubious roots, could practice their craft openly. More specifically, from an especially vexing part of that world he called the Timeless Kingdoms, where time itself barely seemed to matter. Seeing how he still looked the same ever since the first time Ritsuko had seen him, while she studied with Misato, those claims were slightly difficult to argue, but that only made his presence, if anything, even more bothersome.

The talking duck in the cape, mask and hat stared up, all wounded dignity, at Ritsuko, and coldly asked, "Well? Anything I should know before we break in and you use me as your shield again?"

Ritsuko sighed. On a conscious level, she knew she shouldn't hold grudges against him. She was well aware she was partially expressing her own frustration at herself over becoming a 'Guardian', or 'Senshi' or 'Scout' or whatever Luna was calling it this week, through venting out on him, so she tried her best to be patient and polite to him as she answered. "I'm sorry. The last reports the Commander got spoke of a disturbance in a top secret facility within Wing B-G, where they run experiments based on summoning thaumaturgy through applied body enhancement."

The duck narrowed his blue eyes. "What were they trying to summon?"

Ritsuko exhaled again. "Nothing related to us. It was an area designed to satisfy demands from _those people_. Apparently, a long term program meant to develop individuals able to reach the alleged Universal Source mentioned during the Apokoliptian Invasion through spiritual summoning."

"Heaven's Feel," the humanoid bird said with obvious disgust.

Ritsuko looked actually startled. "You knew about that?!"

"Yep, yep, yep," said the duck, pulling a set of binoculars out and focusing them down on a window. "Albireo would talk about those, every once in a while. A mad competition ritual between magi, who would summon fabled heroes of the past to fight in their stead. Hmm, it's funny..." he said, arranging for a zoom-in of his lenses.

"What?" Sailor Pluto asked.

"Wonderland," the duck said. "It's just like Wonderland."

"What?" Sailor Pluto repeated.

* * *

"Doesn't it hurt?" Misa asked tentatively. "I mean, the whole being a Servant thing. You... You are dead, aren't you? Isn't it painful at ll, don't you feel like... a zombie? You know what's a zombie, don't you?"

"Misa-chan, maybe it's better not to ask him questions conductive to him eating our brains out," Sakurako interjected.

Cu Chulainn laughed it off. He and the others were sitting in Chisame, Hakase and Negi's living room now, the teacher discussing current events with Caren and Rin at the table while those less magically versed sitting aside with the Servants, Asuna as close to Lancer as she could, and everyone in general keeping a distance from the grumpy Avenger.

"No, no, no, there's no pain involved until they start stabbing you, and even that is entertaining if you really are into battles, as long s you give as good as you get!" said the man in blue. "Besides, I love living, there's no way I'd regret being alive as long as there are things I enjoy to be had!"

"For an Avenger, existence itself is an ever fresh painful wound, a tortured desire to keep harming the living that only gets placated when you mutilate and annihilate your adversaries," Avenger added. "Not that anyone bothered to ask **me** , but I still thought I'd say it..."

"Maybe all you need is love?" Sakurako dared to guess.

"That word is anathema to me!" Avenger cried.

"Why don't you have seven fingers on each hand, seven toes on each foot, and seven pupils in each eye?" Hakase asked Lancer next.

"That's just a distortion of my legend," Lancer groaned, "Why would I have seven fingers per hand? Do you have any idea how hard that'd make it to wield weapons? I can sprout seven pupils at will, though. Can come handy at times, when you want to gain extra vision. Want to see?"

Without waiting for a reply, his eyes shifted as he smirked, and all of the girls, including Asuna and Avenger, pulled back from him quickly. "Gyaaaahhhh! Turn 'em back! Turn 'em back...!" Misora wailed.

"I... I had never seen anything so hideous, and gross!" Avenger said, making the sign of the cross at him.

Lancer laughed as his eyes returned to normal. "Hey, girls back in my time liked it! I guess you would rather go for the young and innocent type, though, wouldn't you?" he grinned, rubbing his chin and looking at where Negi argued with Caren and Rin.

Chisame huffed. "If Hakase and I live with him, that's only because we have to! Orders from the Headmaster!"

"I would rather marry a handsome, strong, chivalrous older man," Asuna said, edging closer again. "A blue prince, you could say..."

Avenger sneered. "Shameless!"

Asuna sneered back, just like a true Baka in the face of danger. "Oh, that's why you died a virgin, isn't it?!"

"Asuna, please don't pick on Jeanne D'Arc," Negi patiently asked before telling Rin, "I don't understand, if you don't even really have any wish for the Grail, why would you still be willing to kill for it? Why not just to pass Lancer over to someone else, like the Headmaster?"

"It is a family duty," Rin noted sternly. "You would have to know a lot about following on a father's footsteps, wouldn't you, Springfield-sensei? As for killing with no regrets for the sake of a duty or goal, that is the way the world of magi works. Not my fault you mages are raised to be so naive..."

"Both sides are foolish in your own different ways," Caren softly opined, sipping from her tea. "Regardless, the argument on killing or not seems to have been rendered moot in the face of an opponent who will not, as Kagurazaka-san noted, die when he's killed. The fact he spoke of world conquest only cements we are facing a relentless, crazed and potentially unstoppable threat."

"The answer, then, is simply finding his Master and killing them instead!" Avenger barked from where he sat. "No way they could be more than mere mortal flesh!"

Chisame blinked. "Wow, I'd have thought legendary heroes would be savvier than to dare fate like this..."

"Very well, let us analyze who, out of all magic users in this area, could be the Rider's Master," Caren proposed. "That doesn't exclude the possibility of an outsider, but it's still a start. You are the locals, so what if you start thinking of likely candidates? How about your Headmaster?"

"Konoe Konoemon is a great wise man, he'd never summon a bloodthirtsy warrior out to take over the world," Negi said, shaking his head.

"You would be surprised how often good men hide dark sides from us, Sensei," Rin cautioned, "And the Headmaster would certainly have access to some of the finest relics in the world..."

"Konoka's grandpa is a saint!" Asuna shouted, having heard this.

"I'm a saint too," Avenger said. "Your point?"

"I know, what about the Matou family?" Negi snapped his fingers. "They are one of the three grand Founding Families, aren't they? I know they have two heirs studying at Mahora, I don't really know either in person yet, but..."

"I have... met the Matou Servant already," Rin uneasily said. "For the sake of the balance I won't reveal her appearance or class, and her identity escapes me, but I can safely sy she's a woman, and not a Rider. They're not who we are looking for. Perhaps the Einzberns, however..."

"Ah, yes, about that..." Negi rubbed the back of his neck. "I believe we could discard them as well. Some of us have met the Einzbern Servant themselves, that's how we learned of this War to begin with..."

"Boy, have we!" Yuuna approached the table excitedly. "Berserker! A real murder machine! Maybe not as bad as this Rider guy, but nothing to sneeze at either! She's this Amazon lady with the funny name, damn, I forgot again, but the point is, her psycho Loli Master kidnapped me, Ako and Makie, and then took us to her castle in the woods...!"

"What use would an Einzbern have for the likes of you?" Caren asked.

"Yeah, and how did you even escape her then?!" Rin wanted to know. "Wait, the Einzbern Master is a Loli?! Seriously?!"

"Two other Servants showed up and rescued Yuuna-san," Negi explained, gesturing for his eager student to please shut up. "Which ones, I'm afraid, we shouldn't say because of the same unspoken clause of confidentiality that binds you from revealing the Matou Servant's Class and appearance, Tohsaka-san," he polite but firmly said.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway," Rin replied.

"Master, Tohsaka dog, if they won't cough the information up, we should just torture them for it," Avenger growled, then pointed at Misora. "I can tell this one will break readily!"

 _"Why me?!"_ Kasuga whined.

Caren raised an eyebrow, almost lazily. "Why would one Master bother to kidnap you, and two others would send their Servants in your aid?" she asked Yuuna. "What is your importance for this War anyway?"

"I'm not important at all, it just happens the Masters of those two Servants are decent people who wouldn't want for innocents to be harmed at all, and the psycho Loli exploited that, geez!" Yuuna said.

Caren and Rin stared at each other.

"A humanitarian Master? No, _two_ of them?!" the former asked.

"Now I've seen everything...!" the latter added.

"Okay," Asuna told Lancer, "I can see why she'd summon Miss Edgelady here, but why would the other summon someone as perfectly likable as you, Lancer-sama...?"

Cu shrugged. "Rin's really a softie deep down! She just wants to look the bad, hardass part a bit too much..."

Another Gandr shot was flung at his head then.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Never do that indoors again, will you?! I'm surrounded by kids here...!"

* * *

"This is just sick and wrong from every perspective," the small purple shadow mumbled as they navigated through the once pure white, now colorful corridors of the facilities. Said fresh color came mostly from the scattered bodies of staffers, orderlies, doctors and guards splayed all over the walls, floors, and even the ceilings. "Your associates were all very ill people."

"There is no scientific knowledge to be gained from this carnage," Sailor Pluto said, moving along her, her long staff firmly gripped in her hands. "A test subject with a particular twisted mind must have escaped them."

"All the same," the duck observed, "it takes a very demented set of people to twist someone so much in the first place."

Since Doctor Akagi had no valid answer to this, she kept herself silent, until moments later, doubling a corner, someone appeared in their way, blocking their further access. It was a masked man with red hair, his body concealed by a ruined black cloth. He showed up out of a literal nowhere, just coming into being before them, and the two intruders backed away quickly, one readying a handgun with a thick barrel, the other her Time Key.

"What do you look for in here?" the man asked them. "This is... the Realm of Children," he said after a pause, as if repeating something someone had told him to, but with reluctance borderlining stiff embarrassment. "Adults are forbidden access."

"You don't look that young to me," the duck said. "Who are you anyway?"

"Call me Rider," the man dryly answered. "You have caught the children's attention, and that is why I was sent to deal with you two. Be grateful I am not the Pale One."

"Is this your work?" Ritsuko vaguely pointed at the massacre around them.

Rider slightly tilted his head aside. "I killed a few, yes. They had greatly harmed my Master, brought him to the brink of death, and were about to murder him just because he achieved what they wanted from him... the miracle of my realization. I acted in his defense and retaliation, and I offer no apologies for it. However, the Pale One disposed of most. You can tell because of the marks of his touch." He took a hand clad in armored gauntlet out the confines of the cloth, and pointed at the signs of decay and accelerating rotting on a nearby body, which seemed to have been dissected from inside. "You should leave now, for you stand no chances against him. None of us does."

The duck narrowed his eyes. "How about you, then?"

"You'd stand barely any more chance to last over a minute," Rider calculated, matter-of-factly. "Still none at all of surviving me in the long run."

Akagi gestured at the duck to stand quiet. "How many of you are there?" she asked the Servant.

Rider pondered the question for a moment, then made a quite vague shrug of shoulders. "I suppose there's no harm on telling you. There's me, the Pale One, and the Caster. She takes our work and arranges it, all the better to supply us with mana as she decorates a fantasy for the children. This is all done for their sake, you must understand that. If you are here to further damage them, you are my enemy. If not, I'm still willing to forgive you, if only because that's what they want me to."

"Monsters or not," the duck hissed, "these people were still human beings!"

"And death is the fate of every human being," Rider summed up.

"Not like this," the duck insisted, giving a step towards him.

"I see," Rider considered him carefully. "I'm glad, in a way. You will make a good toy for them."

"What?" the duck blinked, and Pluto tensed back, readying a Dead Scream in her throat.

"Or pet. Depends on how much you struggle," Rider said, and jumped on them.

Back in the room with the three small beds, Kuruoka Tsubaki blinked at the cameras Caster had neatly lined up long the wall for her, all showing live footage of Aro-kun's friend talking with the funny duck and the princess in the fair clothes, and then leaping for them. "He... He won't hurt them, will he?" the little girl dubiously asked, hugging her knees against her body. She felt good enough for that, now; after Caster-san had started preparing the doctors and guards as storybook figures pinned to the walls, she had slow but surely been feeling much more vigorous, and even Aro-kun was breathing steady, and Alice-chan would at times move her eyes, not quite opening them yet.

"Would you like him to?" the book sweetly asked, flapping above Alice-chan's body. "It's your story. You decide its happy end."

"I... I don't like I'd like that," Tsubaki confessed, taking a hand to her forehead. Mommy and Daddy had always hurt her with the needles and the treatment, so she supposed hurting others was not, after all, such a bad thing. That was why she had not objected when Rider-san and Rider-san had started hurting the doctors, the nurses and the guards. Still, part of her was also vaguely aware there were circumstances where hurting others, especially those who have done nothing to you, is a bad thing indeed. "I think I like them, and they would like them, too."

"Hmmmm!" Caster said. "Yes, I like them too! I've always liked talking animals, you know. Mother Goose and Puss-in-Boots, the Cheshire Cat and even the Big Bad Wolf! A shame the ones in the labs can't talk, it'd be nice if they could..."

Meanwhile, in the Animal Test Research Area, the Pale Rider moved across cage after cage, and at its wake, every animal, most of them already tainted by others and doomed to meet its early embrace regardless, dropped weightlessly, adding to the being's power. Soon it was done with them and moved to the next room, where several of the last researchers had barricaded themselves into a supply closet, arming themselves with mops and brooms.

Had the Pale Rider had any shred of humanity, even a wicked one, it would have found that either sad or funny when it came for them. Instead, it only fed without a second thought.

* * *

"Master," said one of those people in this story who was not a Heroic Spirit. "You've got a call from Negi-sensei."

Evangeline A.K. Mc Dowell, Dark Evangel, the Mistress of Puppets, the Vampire Witch, begrudgingly paused her _Melty Blood_ game and turned her sharp green eyes up on the green haired beautiful female who was approaching her, holding a tray with a red phone in her hands, and wearing a French maid outfit. "What does that moron want?" the tiny long haired blonde in the skimpy black negligee asked curtly.

"It appears to be a very important matter," the doll like beauty respectfully said, her voice silky and subdued as ever. "He mentioned the Church and the Magus Association's involvement."

The diminutive immortal growled, standing up on bare feet and grabbing the phone. "Yes? This better be good, Boya, you've just interrupted me in the middle of something."

The young boy's voice came to her more rattled than usual. "I'm sorry, Evangeline-san, but I'm afraid this can't wait until tomorrow. Are you... Are you aware a new Heaven's Feel has just started?"

"Oh, so it was that?" Eva sat back, examining the fingernails of her free hand with languid indolence. "That would explain why the local mages have been so restless of late. Wait, Heaven's Feel?! I don't know if you knew this, but these are supposed to happen only every sixty years!"

"It would seem one has begun prematurely," Negi informed her. "I was wondering if you knew anything about them..."

"Of course I do," the vampire sneered. "I was around to witness the mess that was the Third War. Of course, it wasn't like I could watch the Fourth unfolding, since I was trapped here because of someone's idiotic father...!"

"Um, well, yes, about that," Negi swallowed. "At the time, the girls and I are with two Masters we got to sit down and talk their differences out..."

Evangeline smirked devilishly. "Two attractive young women?"

"W-Why would they have to be?!"

"Because they happened to be pulled towards you, that's why," Eva taunted him. "Their names?"

"I... I don't know if I should be sharing that info without their approval, much less over the phone..."

"I'm hanging now," Eva said dryly.

"Caren Ortensia and Tohsaka Rin-san!" Negi blurted out quickly.

"Tohsaka, huh?" Evangeline hummed. "Of course a Tohsaka would be involved. What happened to you to bring you closer to them?"

"Yuuna-san was attacked by yet another Master yesterday, and tonight, we just happened to watch an anomaly Servant by the bridge, one who mentioned being tainted by darkness," Negi explained. "As you are the best expert in Black Magic I know, I thought you could-"

"I could, certainly!" she huffed. "The real question would be, rather, why would I?"

Someone rang at the door, and the blonde frowned. "Did you send someone here?" she asked the boy.

"N-No, everyone's here with me, even Chamo..."

"I will take care, Master," Chachamaru said in perfect calm, nonetheless popping a long, sharp metal pole out of one of her arms, and keeping it steady by her side as she opened the door. "Good evening, how may I help you?"

A girl with short black hair who reminded Chachamaru a fair lot of her own classmate Kugimiya Madoka stood at the doorstep, and a taller, bustier young woman with longer hair and wearing white stood shortly behind her, greeting Chachamaru with a pleasant, "Peace may be with you, Sister."

"Does... Does Evangeline Mc Dowell live here, now? That is what I was told," said the short haired one, sounding extremely awkward and uncomfortable. "Tell her Karin is here. I need to talk with her."

* * *

Somewhere in Fuyuki City's remains, at the site of a great evil's invocation, where even Gilgamesh would not venture whenever he deigned visiting the dead city, stood a large crater, now bubbling and toiling with fetid blackness. A putrid and festering hole where things that were abomination upon all life dwelled. The squirming, twitching manifestations of mankind's sins, first hibernating for a decade, and recently stirring back to a semblance of life.

The Fourth Grail War's Saber, blackened and corrupted, approached the edge of this gaping abyss, in which bathed a soul that had been once, not as noble as hers, but certainly much so than he was now. He smiled at her, still able to retain a dose of his old boisterous comraderie despite sinking himself into that which only brought animosity and twisted the spirit beyond recognition. She supposed he was almost like Gilgamesh in more ways than one, even if he still failed to match him in this sense, just as he had failed to best him in combat.

The warrior who now crawled out of the mud pit, leaving his melting armor behind, was not totally consumed by the World's Evil, a testament to his foolish willpower, but at the same time, he still remained a thrall to some degree, unlike the even more stubborn Golden Archer. However, he still kept enough of his old personality traits as to try again, as he stood in the nude before Saber, to grab her small chin between two of his large fingers.

"King of Knights," he huskily told her. "It is good to see you, paying attention to my bathing. Perhaps you are, at last, willing to-?"

She slapped his hand away with little patience for his antics. "The answer will always remain the same, Rider. Lancer told me you dared putting foot on Mahora."

"A true conqueror doesn't have to respect any borders sets by others. That is what defines conquest, after all," Rider good humoredly told her, crossing his robust arms. "What is it, Saber? You know I wouldn't object to your stepping into Honnouji, as long as you made sure to pay me a visit in the proccess. If I didn't do the same for you, rest assured, it was because I was under the impression you wouldn't appreciate it."

"You were correct," Saber said. "Any rebellious upstarts who show up in Mahora are mine to deal with. That is the duty of the King of a territory, to deal with his own rebels. You would do well to remember that, Rider."

"Lancer has also told me a few things, Saber," chuckled Iskandar, now fully healed by his immersion. "Any particular upstarts you are the most interested on punishing? If so, let me assure you I didn't run into anyone related to you tonight. I did, however, find someone Caster would be greatly interested on seeing again..."

Saber's eyes briefly widened behind her mask. "Do you mean-?!"

"She looks like you indeed!" Iskandar laughed. "Even in how far you two have fallen, ho ho! I suppose, however, Caster might like her better this way. You should bend your law a bit, King of Knights, so those two poor souls can be reunited in their dark rebirth. We still have hearts, even if they are black now,"

"I have never and never will appreciate or share the Caster's methods," Saber hissed with rencor. "Tell him that, should he show himself at Mahora, I will cut him down myself. For you, I am willing to extend a courtesy warning. For him, I only can dispense this through you."

"I'm not your errand page," the other King told her, with a measure of wounded pride, "but should I run into him, I will tell him. Still no further news on Berserker?"

"None at all," Artoria Pendragon admitted. "But I suspect where he might have gone. However, it is hardly worth my time going to look for him. In time, he will come to me instead. And then we shall settle our pending business, one way or another."

She slammed her sword down on the ground, opening a large crack on it, to accentuate her statement. Then she began pulling down on her armor. "Now, if you will excuse me, I believe I also shall submerge myself in."

"On second thought," Rider noted, "I believe I could use another dip myself, just to be sure-"

Saber punched him in the face.

* * *

Negi hung the phone, visibly rattled and disturbed.

"What did she say?" Chisame asked him, after Rin and Caren stopped taking turns beating him across the head with their slippers over revealing their names through the call.

Negi answered slowly. "She... answered to my questions pretty much the way I expected her to, but then someone rang at the door, Chachamaru appears having gone to open, and Evangeline-san screamed "KARIN, WHAAAAAAT?!" and the call was cut just like that?" he meekly shrugged, clearly at a loss for any further words.

The girls around him, and even Lancer and Chamo, also fell in a silence after that.

"So, which Servant do you think got them?" Misa ended up asking.

"I think that so far, I like you the best out of all of you," Caren told her.

* * *

"These," Shirou formally introduced them to the man in the bat suit sitting on Kiritsugu's favorite chair at the table, and holding Kiritsugu's favorite coffee cup in a hand, something that was earning him heated glares from Taiga already, "are Saber, Servant of the Sword, and Caster, crafty Mistress of Magic. And this is my little sister Miyu-chan, Dad adopted her shortly after you disappeared without a trace and you never called again."

"Pleased to meet you," Miyu bowed to the Bat. "It is a honor to meet one of Father's acquaitances."

"How can you even sit down while wearing that cumbersome thing?" asked the woman who would often sit at a sturdy old wooden table while wearing bulky armor.

"So you are Mordred, son of King Arthur," Batman calmly said, taking just a moment to sip from his coffee. "Well, this is a mild surprise."

Mordred blinked, then looked angrily at _"SHIROUUUUU!"_

"I didn't tell him anything!" the boy claimed. "It must've been Fuj- Hey, I've been with you the whole time!" he told Batman. "How did you know?!"

"It was simple enough to deduce it from your appearance," the Batman lectured. "You have callous hands bearing slight marks of holding swords best fitting the time period the hystorical King Arthur is reputed to have lived in. Your ethnicity and accent both fit the most academically accepted assumptions of how Arthur's people looked and sounded like at the time. You must have been a warrior of renown, given you are a Heroic Spirit at all, so you must be a well known name. However, your body language and general attitude paint the portrait of a brash, impulsive personality who would look to prove itself in battle, heeding little attention to others' regards. Combining all of those parameters, your being Mordred is the most likely conclusion," he simply finished, then took another, much longer sip. "Excellent coffee, Shirou, much better than your father's."

Everyone around the table blinked, although Caster made a good job at pretending she hadn't at all behind the hood.

"But..." Mordred began, "But, I am a-"

The Batman's mouth moved ever so slightly, so subtly curving at the sides into what _might_ have been a smirk. "Yes...?"

Saber sighed. "Nothing. I was going to say something about your being doubtful of my identity because of something I might look like, but I'm glad you, at least, see things and people for what they are!" She slammed a fist on the table, making it shake. "It's a honor, Dark Knight! Ridiculous your attire might be, but you have a real insight for what actually makes a man into what he is!"

"So, aren't you offended over being called brash and impulsive?" Caster asked.

Saber smiled. "That is just an admission of the forceful, forward thinking a real sovereign must have. What plagued my father's reign was indecisiveness and weakness, but I'm not one to fall for those flaws!"

"No, yours are the complete opposite, instead," Taiga interjected.

"Well, look who's talking!" Saber huffed, then grinned at Batman. "What about Caster, Dark Knight Detective? Can you tell us her real identity?"

Batman looked at Caster, who did not flinch under his intense glare.

"No. I can't," he said at last, lying in such a convincing way no one but Caster herself was fooled. "But enough of that. I'm not here to play guessing games. I came from Gotham City following the trail of a so-called Magus whom I suspected of criminal behavior. Earlier tonight, I found his Mahora hideout, but learned he had been murdered himself by someone wielding a dagger or sword of sorts. Whether that was before or after summoning a Servant, I can't tell since I... am not adept at magic."

"That's terrible!" Shirou said. "Um, I'm not much of a magus myself, but if you want me to, I can go check with you, I might be able to tell you something..."

"You?" Taiga huffed. "Please, Shirou! Why doesn't he take Caster along, she's the great expert from the Age of Gods or whatever!"

"That might have to wait," the dark and grim avenger admitted, taking a bit from the snacks Miyu had brought him and thanking her with a nod. "While looking into that case, I received intelligence from a related incident. Related inasmuch as they both pertain to your Holy Grail War. Several ancient relics belonging to the Order of Assassins, better known today as the League of Shadows, were stolen today. They are a centuries old cabal of expert killers, turned into modern day ecoterrorists by a demented old foe of mine. They are the origin of what you know as the Assassin Class of Servants."

Caster nodded. "Assassins are, much like us Casters, not gifted at direct confrontation, unlike the Knight Classes. However, they are experts at disposing of Masters behind their Servants' backs, and the best of all Heroic Spirits when it comes to infiltration and sabotage. Although I am surprised someone thought the theft of relics was needed. For Assassins, just the mention of Hassan's name is necessary to summon one of their ranks."

"That is the problem," the Batman admitted. "This was orchestrated by someone who wanted a specific set of Assassins, and had the resources to rob one of the most powerful and dangerous men in the planet under his nose. Whoever this mastermind is... they need to be stopped before they can put their plans into action, whatever they are."

* * *

Somewhere else, not that far way, at the penthouse of one of Japan's finest executive towers, a tall, brooding man in a long, gray coat waited at an office. This office was one of the largest, if not the largest, he ever had been at, and he had been at many, even if usually only for short spans of time, and always on business, never on pleasure. So he didn't take a particular joy from his luxurious surroundings, never mind the fact he had been there before anyway.

This was nothing but another business.

The door's office was opened from the outside, and in walked a short, delicate, boyishly handsome young man in his fourteens, with warm blue eyes and short blond hair, richly suited, the perfect image of a precocious, proper gentleman to make Negi look like a thug. Two female bodyguards marched behind him, and he held a small black case in his hands.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Julius," he told the man of dead eyes and much darker hair. "There's been complications at the Neo-Tokyo factories, but I made one of my friends look into it. Come closer, please, will you? The old man delivered as promised."

The taller man walked closer, and he hummed when the boy opened the small case, revealing a folded piece of old, time ravaged cloth. "Will it work? Are you sure?" asked the man named Julius, grabbing the cloth and lifting it off the container, holding it between them.

Leonardo B. Harwey chuckled in that good natured way of his. "Don't worry, Julius. We'll make it work! And so, you will have the perfect partner for this enterprise of ours. Hassan, Assassin of the Cursed Arm!"

* * *

 **End of Chapter Five.**

* * *

 **Oh, Brother.**

Caster smiled at her young protegee. "What do you want to be when you grow up, Miyu-sama?"

"I will achieve the dream of every Japanese schoolgirl and will marry my Onii-sama," Miyu very quietly said.

Caster dropped the smile. "I... I have just arrived upon this age, but I'm still pretty sure that only works in cheap popular entertainment aimed for fetishistic audiences..."

"Do you really have any problem with that? I... I thought that, since you are from classic Greece..." Miyu said, holding a book on mythology up. ( _'My First Uncensored Greek Myth Compendium'_.)

"W-Well, it's not like we were Egyptians! That was okay only if we happened to be of divine blood. Granted, given Lord Zeus' pursuits, that still amounted for half of Greece's population, but otherwise, your children would just turn out extremely slow of understanding like Saber."

Saber broke into the room like a freight train. "I'M NOT THAT!"

Caster shot her an annoyed glance. "Are you going to tell me that your father and mother were not siblings?"

Saber gaped. "Ah... Ah, they were, but... But...!" After a moment of doubt, she went back the same way she'd entered, muttering. "Let me rethink that, I know I'm not, even if I am, and they are, but still..."

Six hours later, Saber burst back into Caster's room. "Ah-hah! I understand now! What I meant was, I **am** a child of incest, but I'm not slow of understanding!"

Caster frowned and sat up on her bed, still wearing a sleeping mask and hair curlers. "Are you sure they weren't parent and child as well?"


	7. The Madness of It All

_Ten Years Ago:_

"Well, I leave it in your hands then, Shielder," Maris Billy Animusphere said, relaxed and contented, as he marched for the front gates of the Einzbern grounds, held open by two butler homunculi. He was wearing tall boots, a long and thick gray coat, and a large fur hat at obscured most of his face. "It shouldn't be difficult, right? You have followed the King for a long time now, and you've forgotten more about battle tactics than I've ever learned in the first place."

"But, still… are you sure this is wise, Master?" asked the girl standing in the snow, under a cloudy but momentarily calm red sky. "Now I owe obedience to you as well. Don't you wish to exert your authority more directly?"

He took a moment to smile at her. "I'm okay with anything Kiritsugu and Irisviel decide, really. If I'm needed, they'll know where to find me, and if I need you, you'll know from me right then and there."

The short haired girl nodded slowly, eyes well open, although only one was visible through her pale bangs. "If you say so…"

"I'm glad we're on the same wavelength, then!" Animusphere laughed jovially, already crossing the gates. "Well, gotta go, I can't allow myself to miss this flight. Don't worry, we'll meet again before the War is over, and afterwards, I'm sure we can take some time to celebrate with the Emiyas and the King…"

"Farewell until then, Master," she said softly, waving at him as he got into the limousine waiting for him. The man waved back before the chauffeur closed his door, and soon the vehicle had disappeared down the narrow and curved mountain road, while the gates of the estate closed once more.

Shielder sighed and turned around, walking back to Saber, who waited standing between the trees. "He doesn't fully trust them," the blonde said dryly, "or else he would have handed his Command Seals. I am not sure I can fault him, however."

"I'd rather fight at your side than against you at his command, all the same," Shielder made a small docile smile. "And Lady Irisviel seems to be a good person. I'm sure we'll be fine under her care."

"It is not she who concerns me," the dominant Servant said, looking blandly towards the towers of the stone castle behind them.

Shielder hummed to herself. "You mean Mister Kiritsugu, don't you? What about him?"

"Your Master may have left you behind," the woman in the blue dress explained, "but he at least took the time to talk to us first. Mine has refused to see or speak to us at all from the start; he is a coward, has something to hide, or both. I dislike the idea of fighting for someone whose true motives are unknown to me."

Shielder looked down. "Lady Irisviel said he only wishes for mankind's greater good…"

"And I wish to believe her," Saber replied. Her gaze was fixed on a tall window, from which a tiny girl waved down at them, held in her mother's arms. Shielder smiled widely and waved in return, but Saber did nothing, still sunk into a contemplative silence.

Had Shielder been another kind of knight, maybe she would have pointed out that the problem with Kiritsugu and Saber might be the two of them could be too alike after all.

* * *

 _Fate Stay Night_ , _Fate Prototype_ , _Fate Zero_ , _Fate Hollow Ataraxia_ , _Fate EXTRA_ , _Fate Extella_ , _Fate Apocrypha_ , _Fate Strange/Fake_ , _Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya_ , _Fate Requiem, Fate School Life_ and _Fate Grand Order_ all are the creation and intellectual property of Nasu Kinoko and Type-Moon.

All other featured and mentioned franchises belong to their respective copyright owners.

With Special Thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, Darkenning, Kamenhero25, Moczo, Ol'Vesper, GhostXavier and The Infamous Man for the inspiration.

* * *

 **Lovely Magical Collectible Waifu Game of Death!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six.**

* * *

 **The Madness of It All.**

* * *

 _"Dead Scream,"_ Sailor Pluto whispered, and Rider was blown back across the corridor, finally crashing against a wall, hard enough so small chunks of it were sent flying in several direction.

Rider took a moment to appreciate this as he watched the strangely garbed woman grab the duck by his cape and roughly pull him with herself, as she doubled around the corner in a frantic sprint. This was... strange to say the least. He could tell she was no Servant, and yet, the force of that invisible attack that had just flown from her with her whisper had actully hurt him, even before he was sent barreling through the air. However, humans were not supposed to ever be able of harming Heroic Spirits, unless they were using extremely powerful magic. So, who was this woman, anyway?

"This is intriguing," he said to himself, dislodging himself from the wall and running in the direction they had taken. With any luck he would catch up with them before the Avatar of Pestilence and Disease could run into them. He had several interesting questions to ask them first...

* * *

Twice Pieceman wandered, mildly amazed, and almost feeling young again, through the Neo-Tokyo International Airport, after descending from the latest evening flight. It was somewhat smaller and less awe inspiring than the London one, from an objective viewpoint, but for a foreigner who had not travelled that much for years, it held a certain sense of wonder and exotic thrill. He was picking up the chattering of the locals in their language rather well, much to his relief, since he knew the theory knowledge and basic academic experience on the idiom the mages had implanted into him didn't necessarily have to translate well into actual communication with the native speakers.

He might have been acting actually a bit too revitalized and even eager for his own liking, actually, because he had briefly forgotten, not only his office and duties back at home, which had worried him so much all through the transoceanic flight, but the person who was supposed to pick him up there. Instead, he took on the sights while walking all around the Airport, even stopping to buy a few candy bars at the next stand he could find, with a true enthusiasm he had long forgotten a person could experience. As he kept on marching with a lollipop stuck in corner of his mouth, his organism well fueled on sugar, he reflected candy in this new country didn't taste quite as good as that of his homeland, but this was hardly a time to feel chauvinistic. Japan was, he supposed, incredible in its own way. So full of radiant life, some of which even didn't throw suspicious looks at him!

And best of all, even since the nineteen forties... it had been a country that had never experienced war.

And then a girl in her late teens, who seemed the radiate the feeling and poise of an Old Continent aristocrat, so unlike that of the locals, passed by next to him, sort of shattering the effect. A feeble looking old, graying gentleman in a black suit followed her in a respectful silence, pushing on a small red carriage loaded with heavy luggage. She smelled good, Twice faintly noticed as he got a good look at them, although not as good as those most men around him were giving her, and only her. Those men, however, just couldn't feel the same unusual (for those particular surroundings, as opposed to Merdiana's) aura of definite magical power both that young woman and her manservant possessed, even though Twice now could, even if somewhat faintly, after being bonded to Saver. The young lady had blonde hair as golden as the sun, neatly arranged into thick and elegant curls falling around her shoulders, and wore a long blue and white dress. In a hand, she carried a single heavy looking bag of luggage, including bags within which Twice could made the shape of two long sticks. That made him feel slightly uneasy for some reason.

Lost in such contemplations, Twice slowed down just enough as to let them pass, and then simply stayed standing still for a few more moments, watching them disappear into the crowd. He finally reassumed walking, looking around in all directions as if searching for someone, until he felt a hand on his shoulder, reaching over to him from behind. "Professor Pieceman?" a voice asked.

He turned around, not recognizing the voice. "Yes, that is me, would you be my contact, then?"

That person smiled at him. "That's right. "Headmaster Konoe sent me to pick you up. Professor Takamichi T. Takahata, at your service, Pieceman-sensei."

Twice smiled back and shook the hand the taller, bigger man with glasses was extending at him, with a frank smile.

But while we _will_ see Twice repeatedly through this story, this is not actually his turn to take the spotlight, for this tale will unfold elsewhere for now.

* * *

"Why are we running away? _Why are **you** running away?!"_ the duck demanded in a strangled voice, as Sailor Pluto kept dragging him along by the cape in her escape. "We had him pegged, nailed and dazed! I could have finished him off with the Gas Gun...!"

"That thing isn't human," she argued, never stopping running. "I'm not sure I could stop him, not without breaking the limits I'm not supposed to break. My Princess, or whatever she's supposed to be, could, but you don't see here, do you?!" She flinched as Rider turned in hot pursuit behind them, already pulling out a small gray bag in a hand, and a curved hand sickle in the other. "He's a Servant, a revived manifestation of one of mankind's greatest warriors. An ancient creature modern humans stand no chance against..."

"I thought you were a revived manifestation of an ancient greature, if anything predating mankind as we know it!" the duck growled, even as Ritsuko ground to a halt, her heels screeching against the floor when she arrived to a dead end, signaled by a large smiling portrait of Florence Nightingale. Darn you, Angel of Crimea! The duck took advantage of the moment to shake himself off her grasp, taking aim at the incoming Rider with his handgun. "Smell gas, evildoer!" he shouted, and shot at his face.

A large pellet of concusive gas exploted against Rider's mask, rattling him back slightly and enveloping him in thick dark purple smoke. Rider coughed loudly for a few moments... and then just strode ahead through the purple cloud. "What was that even supposed to be?!" he asked.

The duck sweatdropped. "You... You are very sleepy right now, aren't you?"

Rider shook his head.

"... drat!" the duck complained, and then Rider jumped on them again.

Back at the room with the three small beds, Tsubaki took a hand to her mouth and bit on her fingernails nervously. "He... He isn't going to hurt them very badly, is he, Caster? I don't think I'd like that at all...!"

"That certainly don't sound like a very happy twist," the book conceded, "but then again, the wolf had to eat two piggies before the third could live happily ever after. Maybe we should just-"

Then the Pale Rider came into being again, and Caster fell silent, for this creature scared her. It was not that it was anathema to her; death had been a longstanding part of her stories before those who would take the mystery and wonder away decided they also should sanitize her domain to numb children's reasoning. And they were fellow abstract principles given life rather than actual people, so if anything that established a connection between them. However, she recognized this principle was her superior, that it had roamed Earth long before there were children to tell stories to, and that it would continue stalking long after she was gone.

 _ **"Leave..."**_ the grating, horrible voice said.

"H-Huh?" Caster stammered, her pages moving and shuffling uneasily. "H-Have I done anything wrong? I've been trying to tell the tale right, not my fault if the setting is not-"

"No," Tsubaki gently told her, reaching over to stroke the Rider's surface with a hand. "He doesn't mean that. We all have to leave. He's harvested all he could from this place, and we must move on."

"Oh!" Caster said. "But, Alice-chan and Aro-kun, we can't leave without them! Especially not without Alice-chan. That's not what friends do! But they're still too weak..."

"Kuro-san says we can move them, that he won't touch them yet, if I don't want him to," Tsubaki absently said, eyes vacant. "I trust him, don't you, Caster-san?"

"Oh, yes, I suppose I do, however- Kuro-san?!"

"I guess I could call him Shiro-san as well," Tsubaki caressed the shapeless mass that kept on changing from the whiteish to the deepest black and back, "But he doesn't sound much like a Shiro-chan, does he?"

Caster sighed. "If that's okay with you, so is with us. I'd rather set our kingdom somewhere nicer. Like a library!" she cheered up. "A library would be nice! But, how to call Other Rider on it so he knows...?"

The boy stirred in his bed.

At the same time, after a brief and heavily uneven struggle, the humanoid Rider was grabbing the duck by the throat and lifting him up, even as Sailor Pluto, from a side, thrusted the Time Key's sharp end through the black shawl and into the Servant's ribcage. This made him flinch in abject pain, but never to drop his prey. "You...!" he growled at the Sailor Senshi.

Ritsuko squinted harshly. "Let go of him, or else I swear I will channel a Dead Scream through this. And this time, I will actually _**scream**_ this time."

"You might kill him as well," Rider noted, squeezing until the duck's eyes bugged out. "Does he really matter that much to you... or so little?"

"If I could speak..." the duck choked, "on the subject... I'd say it's a bit of Column A, a bit of... Column B..."

Rider chuckled somewhat fondly at this. "You know, you're starting to remind me of Bubo..."

 _"Who?!"_

Rider then doubled ahead, slightly. "..." he said, shuddering, and then, "Are you sure?" As Ritsuko and Drake blinked, he groaned a "Very well," and then simply disappeared without a trace, letting the caped figure drop unceremoniously to the floor, on his feathered white butt.

"What... Now what was that for?!" the duck complained, rubbing himself in the behind. "What's with this guy?! He kicks our tails, then he just drops everything... literally... and scrams when he has us dead to rights?!"

Ritsuko looked dubiously at her Time Key. "Maybe I hurt him more than I thought? Luna might be right and I should have more faith on this..."

Then a loud explosion rocked the medical wing, and both mismatched crimefighters ran towards the source of the noise without even thinking about it.

Soon they reached the room. A large hole had been blown through the floor, further scattering the liquified remains of Tsubaki's parents and the orderly against the walls. The beds were empty and turned around, their sheets splayed all over the bloodied floor. Darkwing looked down the hole and squinted into the darkness below. "They had an underground complex. What kind of medical research institute has underground facilities?!"

"A secret escape installation in the event of a raid," Sailor Pluto grimly told him. "We have lost them, now."

"Nuts we have!" the duck insisted, dropping down to give chase, but by the time they finished exploring the wide, echoing passages below the laboratories, even he had to admit they had been, indeed, unable to stop something terrifying from being unleashed upon the world.

A scary thought, if there ever was one. This chapter of their lives, at least, had not had a happy end.

* * *

Gotham City, United States of America, Hours Later.

In the Joker's opinion, the blame was clear. It was **their** fault he'd need to go all out whenever he escaped the old loony bin. After all, he needed some serious outlet for his accumulated brain activity after being locked up in an environment that was so repressive and unconductive to socially proper creative behavior.

Take this cell, for instance, the one they had thrown him back after his latest playful caper had been cut woefully short by a certain caped pain in the ass. It was padded and featureless all over, all white and it had no cable, or even windows. Except when the Joker hallucinated them after a dose of medication, but really, if he had to put effort into imaginating them hard enough for them to be visible then, in his opinion he was the one doing all the actual work on getting this crummy relationship to work.

Then they all would act scandalized and wag their fingers when he broke free and made a large show of himself, but could anyone in their right mind blame him? If they only took the straightjacket off him and gave him things to keep himself entertained with, maybe those disasters could be avoided. He didn't even need that much, only simple things. A screwdriver to stab the guards with, some wire to strangle the doctors with, maybe a nice shiny knife to raise as his own and introduce to a few nurses...

Oh, that was it. Maybe THAT was why they didn't give him anything to play with!

The crazy laughter echoed again through the halls of Arkham, and then all the lights went off.

The Joker paused his high pitched cackle in the sudden darkness, and them quietly said to himself, "Ohhh dear. It had never done that before, I swear!"

The asylum's emergency generators kicked back a second later, and lights returned to half of the old, castle-like facilities on top of the rocky mountainside, but the wing of Lifers remained plummeted into shadows, both literal as well as figurative. A frantic "Hroooo! Hroooo! Hraaaaaa!" began pouring out of the Scarecrow's cell, and a loud roar from Killer Croc's, as his manacled huge scaly claws started ramming against his reinforced door.

"Oh, I really need to find myself a classier neighborhood," the thin, tall man of the starkly white skin huffed, with airs of great dignity, standing up on bare feet and straightening himself like a lord, blowing a stray lock of messy emerald hair falling on his angular, sharp face. He kicked his wide lips, which actually were not red as long as he had no lipstick on them, and took a deep breath in, "Okay, I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. Deville. Or would that be Devil? No, that's me, now, isn't it... heh heh heh heh..."

He could hear gunshots down the halls, and strong, stomping steps, coming ever closer. "Hey, Harvey!" he shouted at the cell next door. "They come for you or me, double or nothing on which one it is?!"

An obscene growl in a raspy, throaty voice was his only answer.

The Joker pouted. "Aw, you don't have to be like that! Then you complain when I'm not friendly to you either...!"

The men appeared around the corner of their corridor, and Joker lifted his long chin and frowned. They all were covered from head to toe in paramilitary assault fatigues, with scarves covering the lower halves of their faces, and dark glasses under concealing hoods. Each one carried enough tactical weaponry as to wipe out a police squad on their own, which granted, was hardly that impressive when you spoke of Gotham cops, ever in the Joker's oh so humble opinion.

"Well, it was about time you showed up!" he told them with loud faux indignation. "The problem with these horrible rats plaguing this place has only grown worse and worse since I called you, a freaking week ago! I swear, next time I'll call another extermination agency!"

"Back away from the damn door!" one of the intruders growled, placing plastic explosive on it, and since Joker was insane but never stupid, he quickly did so. A moment later, he was not even flinching as the door exploded off its hinges and plummeted, and three of the men burst in, aiming submachineguns at his head.

"Are you the Joker?!" one of them shouted.

"No, I'm Daredevil," he replied, not missing a beat. "Isn't that obvious? There's been a terrible mistake here..."

"Cut the shit!" one of them threatened him, in a thick New York accent. "We know they have Clayface in this wing, too!"

"Well, there's an easy way to know," the Joker grinned demonically. "Shoot me through the head. If I don't die and I bleed mud, then I'm Clayface."

"It's him," one of the men said, lowering his weapon, moving ahead, and grabbing him by a shoulder, roughly pulling him with themselves. "We're going to take you on a ride, Bozo. There's someone who really wants to see you."

"Ohhh, that's a new one!" the Joker blinked exaggeratedly. "You mean this is for the benefit of good ole' moi? Why, I'm flattered! I must say, however, I'm not a self centered man. It seems hardly fair I'd be the only one who gets a free card out of jail today!"

"We only were paid to get you out, so get moving," one of them grunted, shoving him off the cell. "Less talking, more running!"

"Not without my bros," the clown said, and before they knew it, somehow, he had worked a bony arm out of the straightjacket, and grabbed a handgun from one of their holders, and then shot...

... the electronic lock on Two-Face's cell door.

Joker gave his would be rescuers a contemptful look as Harvey Dent pushed his way outside. "Amateurs! Don't you know the best cover screen for an escape is to just let everyone loose?! It doesn't take a wizard to figure that out! Now, who's the wiseguy who wants to see me so much? No need to stop, we can discuss it on our merry way out," he sounded affable again even as he shot at Croc's lock and pulverized it, the mad beast storming out. "Maybe we could even take a little bitsy detour and get my galpal out, too? That would be nice..."

In New York, two minutes after, an extremely worried business woman stopped rubbing her aching forehead when she heard her phone ringing. She picked it up as fast as she could. "Yes?!"

"The Jack is out of the Box," said a voice from the other end. "It worked out fine, other than a few kinks."

"May God forgive us," the mob boss breathed out, nonetheless more relieved now. "For we have just played right into the Devil's hands..."

And other mere minutes after, she made the overseas call to her husband. "Darling? Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yes..."

"H-How about Chitoge-chan?! Is she... Is she...?!"

"He... has let her go, Dear," the man stiffly said. "She... She is with the Ichijous right now, but... he'll move on them next if you don't-"

"Tell him," she said, "his Master is on his way."

"Thank you so very much," the pale, sweaty man sighed, before tilting his head aside, as much as the tendrils holding his battered body in place would allow him to. He looked at the giddily expecting Caster, still standing over the mutilated corpses of his men, and told him, "It is done. He'll be sent in the next flight my wife can arrange for him."

Gilles De Rais began clapping like a thrilled child. "Excellent! Oh, so excellent, my good sir! Truly, you are a man amongst men! My eternal gratitude to you. Rest assured, you will be greatly rewarded for these most generous services...!"

The man lowered his head, a defeated hollow shell. "Don't even mention it... sir."

"Oh? You don't look too happy!" Caster said, sounding genuinely confused and disappointed. He moved to his side and began caressing his cheeks on his pale, cold, slimy hands. "But we have every reason to feel festive today, dear sir. Soon we will unleash the great carnival of the rippling flesh and the flowing blood. And you will be a first row witness of the magnificence of it all...!"

"I... I'd rather die!" he exploded, feeling long bottled frustration and resntment boil beyond a breaking point in him.

One of Caster's sharp nails pierced him under the chin, drawing blood. The aberration smiled saintly.

"Oh, no," he said. "Not yet, I'm afraid. But! Soon enough!" he promised.

At this point, that was the best thing Adelt had heard all day long.

* * *

"Emiya-san?" Negi approached him at the start of the lunch break. "Could we speak privately for a few minutes, please?"

Shirou blinked, then glanced aside at Issei, who sat by him calmly eating from his bento. "Just go," Ryuudou told him. "At least this time, I'll have another teacher to explain things for us to Kuzuki-sensei when you fail to show up for the rest of the afternoon."

Shirou nodded mechanically. "That's... nice from you to say, Issei."

"Yuuna-chan told you, didn't she?" Shirou asked the much younger boy as they went into the Administrative Building, a couple minutes of walking later.

"I apologize in her behalf," Negi confirmed quietly. "She thought it'd be for the best, as she also held strong suspicions about me. Suspicions she shared with you, as well, most likely," he observed.

Shirou scratched the back of his neck as they went up the stairs. "Are most teachers here mages, or at least aware of magic?"

"No, we're a minority," Negi shook his head. "Your homeroom teacher doesn't know, as far as I know. Is your Spirit with you as we speak?"

"She always is," Shirou said, feeling Saber's presence moving around him.

Negi nodded, opening the door to his office and ushering Shirou in. "That's good. Sorry to keep you waiting, Karin-san. Emiya-san, this Ish Karin Orte, a longtimer friend-"

"Associate," the young woman with short black hair standing by Negi's desk coldly corrected him.

"- associate of Evangeline Mc Dowell-san, one of my most... remarkable students," Negi sighed. "Does the Mc Dowell name tell you anything, Emiya-san?"

Shirou nodded. "Uh, no. Should it?"

"I see," Negi hummed. "Your father really wanted to shield you from a lot of things. Karin-san, if you would please."

The young woman nodded, and tightened a fist, holding it up so Shirou could see, gasping, red marks flaring on her skin, a moment before a beautiful lady with long dark hair and holding a long cross staff materialized by her side, smiling at Shirou and saying softly, "Peace be with you, my brother."

 _"A Servant!"_ Saber hissed, appearing between them and Shirou just as soon, fully armed and already aiming Clarent towards the other Heroic Spirit. "Your mistake, wench! You have trapped yourself here, with no room to escape...!"

"Saber Class Servant," the other Spirit nodded, frowning at her. "Hold both your blade and your poisoned tongue back! I'm not here to duke it- I mean, to kick your- I mean, I'm not here to do battle with you!" she hastily amended herself, cheeks briefly growing red. She slammed the end of her staff on the floor and introduced herself. "I am Ruler, Servant of Balance! My purpose is not to gain the cup of mankind's wishes for myself, but to overview the contest between you!"

Saber was predictably perplexed at this. "You are a what-?!"

"Think of me as an arbiter, here to make sure your war doesn't go off the- that is, to verify the conflict between you and the six others doesn't degenerate into a bloodbath that would consume this world we've sworn to protect!" Ruler asked. "I'm not your enemy, but an impartial judge whose guidelines you and your adversaries must heed, because they come from the Lord Himself..."

Shirou blinked. "I thought the Church already had designed a supervisor for the War?"

Ruler huffed. "This era's church has grown stray from the commandments of our Lord! The goodness residing within the false Grail has understood that, and thus her voice called out to me. This sinner," she gestured to a grumbling Karin, "attempted to summon a Servant for her own selfish goals, but instead I was sent to steer her the path of virtue. It is my hope she can be enlightened about her flaws by observing this War's outcome as my partner."

"Ah-hah. Cool story, sister," Saber deadpanned. "However, a true warrior King will draw his own path, heedless of what others may say! I don't need you or anyone to tell me the correct way. I just was misled every time I listened to attempts to guide my future from others, so you'll excuse me if I just follow my own sense of right and wrong, thnk you very much, it's been a pleasure, you may leave before I lop your head off..."

"You aren't taking me seriously, Saber," Ruler scolded her. "But as we speak, forces from the outside alredy manipulate this war out of what any rightful warrior would consider just. I was informed last night, right before my arrival to these grounds, a huge knuckleh- errr, a rogue Servant of sorts appeared in the midst of a duel between the Lancer and something called an Avenger, and brought a great sense of dubiouness to this war's correct procedure. What would you happen to know about that?"

"Why should I know what other Servants do with their lives, or why?" Saber challenged her. "Am I their guardian? From the sounds of it, that is more like _**your**_ alleged self-assigned role!"

"Saber..." Shirou groaned. "Why don't we just listen to what she has to say?"

Ruler nodded. "At least you seem to hold onto some common sense, Master of Saber. We have gotten the Masters of Lancer and Avenger agree to a temporary truce while this abnormal situation is cleared off, and we would like inviting you to join it until we can start a proper and fair major mega battle roy- Heaven's Feel, that's what I was going to say!" she flushed again. "What do you say, bust- I mean, brother under the Grace of the Lord?"

"You didn't get those Masters to agree on anything, that was all this guy's doing!" Karin growled, pointing at the bashfully chuckling Negi.

Shirou took on these news with bafflement at first, but then smiled. "Are you for real? Wow, that'd be very helpful! Why, we even could get to learn why there's another Saber in the War..."

"Shirou!" Saber chomped madly on the air.

Ruler looked shocked. "What?! Another Saber, you say?! When?! How?!"

Then, however, her questions and any likely answers were interrupted when someone else entered the office, frowning as she did so. "Geez, Sensei, weren't you listening? I have been knocking for five minutes now, weren't you the one asking me to come- Oh," Tohsaka Rin stopped, looking fixedly at Shirou, Saber, Ruler and Karin. "W-Well! I can see why would you want to see me!"

"Blessings upon you, fellow child of God," Ruler bowed.

"Tohsaka-san...!" Shirou breathed out.

* * *

Lancer appeared in a flash by Rin's side, leveling his spear at the closest Servant, that was, Saber. "Behind me, Master! This shouldn't take long..."

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Pretty Boy!" Saber sneered, ferociously turning to draw her blade on him. "You will die soon enough, Irish dog!"

Lancer's eyes widened briefly. "How did you...?"

"Ahem!" Ruler and Negi rasped.

Saber chuckled maliciously. "It would shock you to know how much I've learned about you, Cu Chulainn! A shame you will never know why...!"

 _ **"Ahem!"**_ Ruler and Negi rasped again.

Lancer recovered, flashing a sadistic smirk at Saber. "Let's see if you still boast so much once I've pulled you out of that tuna can, Tin Man...!"

"Excuse me!" Negi bopped a fist on his desk. "I will let you know this is _**my**_ office!"

Both Saber and Lancer glanced back at him, in annoyance.

"Don't worry," Lancer finally said. "Once Servants die, they dissipate completely. He won't even leave a stain on your floor..."

"He's probably just afraid we'll shatter his fancy window or something," Saber said.

"I won't have anyone killing each othere here, blood stains or not!" Negi firmly insisted, stomping a foot down decisively. The effect was somewhat diluted when he immediately asked the two teens, "Tohsaka-san, Emiya-san, please make them reason!"

Rin rubbed her head with a hand. "I wonder if this stress was what really killed Dad... Lancer, stay put until told otherwise. Nitta-sensei's office is right next door, after all." Then she looked at Shirou, folding her arms critically. "So you're a Master, or are just representing one?"

"I am one myself," he said, pulling off the layer of false skin Caster had placed on his hand and showing her his Command Seals. "Why do you sound so disbelieving?"

"I never imagined you'd have the capacity," she told her neighbor, matter-of-factly. "I knew of the Emiya name and what it entailed, of course, but given you were adopted..." Next she looked at Karin and Ruler. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"I am Ruler," Ruler proudly began, "Heroic Spirit of-"

"She fancies herself our referee," Saber interrupted with a grunt, making Ruler pout. "Won't someone tend to that door already?" she then pointed a metal covered finger at the door, on which someone knocked from the outside. "It must be that witch, and the pantsless woman hanging with her...!"

Lancer narrowed his eyes at Saber while Negi rushed for the door, opening it and inviting the stonefaced Caren in with a whispered apology and a bow. "Were you watching us last night?!"

Saber laughed arrogantly. "My resources are without any equal, fool!"

"Caster helped you, didn't she?" Shirou guessed.

"Caster?!" Lancer said. "Have you already entered some unholy alliance to pull one over our heads, and with a Caster to boot?! Don't you know those guys are treach-"

His words were cut short as Avenger appeared as furiously as ever, swinging a flaming standard at the Servants she didn't recognize. "What is this?! A trap! Fiendish dogs! I will make you regret your insolence...!"

"And here we go again," Karin groaned, taking a hand to her own face.

"No fighting, no fighting!" Shirou tried to impose peace as Negi yelped and put off a few wisps of fire that had caught on his courtains when Avenger waved the standard.

 _ **"Shut up, we're all here to fight!"**_ Lancer, Saber and Avenger all told him at once, closing ranks at each other right before Ruler broke them apart, slamming her staff between them,

"Enough stupidity!" Saint Martha commanded them, eyes shining angrily as she hopped in place, ready to do battle like a pugilist. "Right now, no! Here and now, this is not either the place or time to do combat!"

"Your body language is telling a completely different story than your words," Caren blandly told her before looking at Shirou with mild interest. "Who is this handsome bloke?"

"Handsome?" Rin flinched.

"... bloke?" Shirou eeped.

The Servants were more interested on staring daggers at Martha, who introduced herself again. "Avenger, Black Soul of Vengeance, like I was telling your competitors, I am Ruler, adjudicator this Holy Grail War-"

"Ruler?! What kind of stupid Class is Ruler?!" Jeanne spat. "I'd never heard anything so ridiculous before! What are you even-"

"Will you just let me finish and shut your tr-!" Martha growled, before clasping a hand on her own mouth and continuing, much more properly, "I have no interest on the Grail, for my realization comes from serving the cause of God. Thus, I was sent to act as a mediator between you, to guarantee the Heaven's Feel doesn't steer away from its intended course. This gives me an authority over you, not to tell you to stop fighting, or whom to engage next, or what alliances to forge among yourselves, but to make sure you do so in a way that doesn't hurt God's children inhabiting these lands or beyond..."

"Well, but someone's a real goody goody two shoes here," Avenger sneered. "I used to be like that, and you know what? Now I hate it, because it turned me into this! Give me a good reason why I should obey you, other than because that God who left me says so!"

"You blasphemer!" Martha hissed back at her. "I pray God will forgive your blackened heart! As for proof of my authority..." she held a fist up, and her whole body glowed, bathed by holy golden light, making Shirou and Negi gape in awe, "I hold the Rulers' divine right to order unrepentant souls around! This is God's Resolution, the privilege granting me the equivalent to two Command Seals for each of you. With them, should you become a danger for the War and mankind, I could do anything from forcing you to eliminate yourselves to- well, I guess I couldn't come up with a more extreme example after that, right? Think carefully before challenging me!"

So naturally, Saber challenged her instantly. "Oh, yes? How do we even know that alleged privilege really works?!"

Ruler sighed. "Lancer. Make like a cat, will you?"

Lancer blinked. "Eh? But why me, I haven't even said anything, and why a cat of all- MEOWWWW MEOWWWW!" the proud Cu Chulainn suddenly said, dropping on all fours on the floor and starting to stiffly strut around like a reluctant huge cat. "MEOWWW! Oh damn, I just hope there are no mice here...! MEOWWWW!"

Caren blinked slowly at the bizarre sight, then smiled slightly, pulled a cellphone out, and began taking pictures.

Rin stared angrily at Ruler. "Why him?! He was right, he hadn't told you anything bad yet!"

"That's precisely why I chose him," Ruler shrugged. "He's the least rebellious one, so I could afford myself wasting one spell on him so the others get to see the light..."

Rin grouched, looking towards Saber and Avenger, who now were supporting mutually, collapsing onto each other and overwhelmed by rambuncuous laughter. "Yeah.. They look much 'lighter' now, alright...!"

Shirou and Negi had crouched down around Lancer, petting his head and smiling. "Who's a good kitty cat? Who's a good kitten...?" Shirou asked good naturedly, while Negi just looked jubilant like a child with a new pet.

"MEOWWW! MEOWWWWW!" Lancer bellowed in complete and abject humiliation...

* * *

"Unlike most of my people, you will see," Celenike explained as they left the Academy City Lexcorp Mall, happy to have someone to talk with about this, not that her happiness relly showed, "I enjoy technology."

"Yes, I can see that clearly now," Foreigner said, walking behind her and holding the bags of laptops her Master had acquired making use of Darnic's funds. She had no problems with the weight, since even E Strenght ranked Servants were quite stronger than any human, and she didn't mind the outraged looks of passerbys at this woman making a child carry her bags either. As for Celenike, she was even enjoying the looks of contempt. They made her feel so wicked. "My family never had much use for progress, much like yours," she vacantly added. "They said it only was a straight way ahead into hell."

Celenike chuckled. "It's my belief all of mankind is damned for hell. All manners of virtue are falsehoods meant to detract the masses from that harsh reality."

"How edgy from you, Master," Foreigner blandly replied.

"Hey! What is with that modern language all of a sudden?!"

"I was watching television last night," the Servant admitted. "My father would have denounced it as perverse entertainment that would have led to my damnation, but since you have been stating since my summon all paths lead to eternal torment no matter what..."

Celenike put a hand on her face, then stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, then blocked her Servant's march with an arm put in her way. "Don't be so careless, Foreigner. The street light's red."

"Thank you for your concern, Master," the little girl said. "Even though being rammed by a motor vehicle would not hurt me..."

"I'm not thinking of you, I'm thinking of my new laptops!" the Master snapped, and then they crossed the street upon the change of the lights. While they walked along the next sidewalk, she noticed Foreigner coming to a halt, and frowned down at her. "Now what?"

"Two Servants are nearby," Foreigner quietly answered. "The first one is up there," she said, pointing a thin arm in a long sleeve up at one of the upper windows of a residential tower, "and the other is down that boulevard," she pointed the opposite way, towards a large square where some kind of crowded meeting was taking place. "Which one should we kill first?"

"Oh, crap," Celenike bit on her lower lip, swallowing hard. "Um, well, what if we go check on the one in the open first? If their Master is a public person, they should be a powerful individual, and thus more of a dangerous enemy to watch out for..."

"And yet also currently less likely to attack us before the masses, am I right, Master?" Foreigner wondered aloud.

"Who are you calling a coward, you damn brat?!"

"I was just praising your strategic survival ability, Master..." Foreigner innocently said. Celenike stared furiously at her, then stomped in anger towards the site of the meeting, where a gorgeous woman in a religious habit was giving a speech on a podium, speaking fervorously for the interested crowd gathered around her and listening attently. This woman sent instantly signs of alarm through Celenike, who, decaying bloodline or not, still was a trained magus and the best her family had to offer for generations. "It's her, isn't she, Master?" Foreigner whispered, huddling closer to her legs. "I can feel her Servant, it is circling her, and it has noticed me as well..."

Someone else had noticed, staring at the scene through the window Foreigner had pointed at earlier. Looking throgh binoculars, her glasses set aside for the moment, Caragiri Jinako's Assassin trembled, her perfect white teeth chattering. "This.. This is bad, Ma-chan!" she told her Master. "There's another one now...!"

"Oh, seriously?" Jinako snorted from her computer. "At the rally down the boulevard, you say? Let me make a quick search, uh huh, here it is... Alright. Looks like the one speaking is one Sessyoin Kiara, some kind of... weird cult leader, one of those you often see in TV. I don't know, could a person like that be one of those 'Masters' you mentioned, Hime-chan?" she yawned, clearly finding the whole subject to be terribly boring and super-lame. "All those guys are nothing but frauds..."

"Ma-chan!" Osakabehime turned on her desperately. "If you could summon me despite being no mage, so could someone who is the head of a religion! Oh damn, this isn't good, what if they've summoned a Saber and an Archer?!" she threw her hands up. "I don't even want to fight, just tell me more about this person, please!"

"Okay, okay!" Jinako chided her. "For someone who's already dead death sure scares you! I'm still alive, I'm the one who should be worried! Okay, Google says... Hey, she has a webpage of her own, maybe this cult's not so crappy after all! Oh. Oh, wow, I didn't know churches had that kind of perks. How ecchi..."

Osakabehime put the glasses back on, stared over Jinako's shoulder, and blushed at all the sexual imagery in the homepage. "Wow, these times sure are degenerate... Save that pic, Ma-chan! And that one, too!"

Jinako chewed on her lower lip, saving those and then some more, too. "Looks like this isn't even but the tamer stuff, most of the site is hidden behind a Paywall of Spiritual Illumination!" Quickly, she accessed her bank account and filled a transfer, and while they waited for it to take effect, Jinako opened another tab to run a news search on Sessyoin. "Here it says she's been accused of embelezzment, kidnapping, seduction of minors, entrapment, blackmail and sexual white slavery, while using her cult as a front, but the charges against her have never stuck..."

"I can read just fine myself, Ma-chan," Assassin pouted, still looking over her shoulder. "Please don't speak as if you were narrating things for the benefit of an audience."

"So," Jinako said. "Will you go and assassin those 'Servants', then? Because that's what you are supposed to do, right?"

"A-Are you crazy?! I'm a defender of haunted places, not an active pursuer and killer of others!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Jinako shot back. "That you're going to just wait until those other guys come right here, to MY home, and then start worrying about them?!"

"I, I, I don't know!" Assassin panicked. "Maybe if we wait long enough they'll kill each other first and we'll slip under their radar, Ma-chan!"

Jinako blinked. "Do you think that's possible at all?"

"... no, not in the slightest."

Then they both cried out frantically, taking their hands to their respective heads.

* * *

"Modern society has placed many barriers between us," the woman at the podium warmly addressed her audience. There was something sweet and alluring about her mere presence, giving her a comforting influence over those standing before her, For Celenike, it only translated as a turn of her stomach, however. "We have been taught to keep our distance from each other, to reject love and bonding as our natural state of being, and that has made us distrustful and resentful of our siblings in the grace."

"Standard postmodern religious babbling," Celenike told her Servant, earning her a few glares from those closest at the edge of the crowd. She chose simply ignoring them. "Are you sure this is her?"

"Yes, I am certain," Foreigner said.

 _Well_ , Celenike thought, _either she's not putting much of an effort and people here are even more gullible than I thought, or Foreigner's dead wrong. How can someone so vapid be a Master? It baffles the mind..._

Then she tensed up, feeling another powerful presence approaching, a sensation that was confirmed when Foreigner tightly embraced her leg against herself, the Servant's eyes growing wider. Celenike glanced in the direction of these spiritual pulses and saw a woman around as tall as herself, and even more curvaceous, striding confidently towards the crowd, on high black heels and wearing a tight, daring short black dress. She had sharp blue eyes and short blonde hair, and the glamourous but self assured air of a modern working woman.

"So this is Sessyoin Kiara!" the newcomer said, coming to a stop shortly next to Foreigner and Celenike, and making the former shudder. The mature blonde gave a nod towards the podium. "Well, I can't say I'm disappointed. It's right what I expected her to be..."

Celenike felt obligated to say something. "Were you thinking of joining her cult?" she asked dryly.

"I have my own religion already," the blonde woman said, lighting a cigarette up and giving it a few languid puff, "but the study of others has always interested me. How do you do, I'm Kitami Reika, Medical Assistant. Such a lovely child, you have."

She smirked down at Foreigner, who returned the sly glance with a hostile glare, and Celenike found herself wondering about this stranger. She could feel no Heroic Spirit around her, and yet there was an unmistakable, familiar black aura projected around her frame. "I'm just taking care of her for a couple of weeks," the European magus replied.

"Oh, that accent," Kitami noted. "On town on business, aren't you? There's been a fair mount of... _foreigners_ coming along this week, I've noticed. Maybe it's only my imagination, however."

"Maybe," Celenike growled.

Kitami only smiled affably, and looked at the woman giving the speech, who briefly paused and smiled directly at her, then. Celenike flinched, feeling both women had clicked instantly on some level, and feeling rather conflicted on how that made her feel in turn. As a matter of fact, Sessyoin seemed to have noticed Kitami even before realizing the presence of Celenike herself, although Foreigner seemed sure the woman's Servant, whoever they were, had fixated on them from the beginning.

"We probably should leave," Foreigner softly said, subtly tugging on Celenike's leg.

Since she had always hated being told what to do, Celenike felt inclined to disagree on general principle, even though she had no real reason to stay either. "Why the hurry?" she asked her Servant. "Aren't you feeling okay?"

"No. No, I don't believe I am..."

"Oh my, poor child," Kitami said, crouching down and touching Foreigner's cheek with a hand, making the Servant recoil. "Don't worry, dear, I'm a professional. Just let me take a good look at you..."

"No, thank you," Foreigner firmly said.

"I can feel," Kiara stopped her speech right then, "three very special people among our numbers here, today." She smiled oh so nicely, closing her eyes, and pointing at the very back of the huge crowd. "I would be very thankful if the nice lady in glasses with the lovable child and their sophisticated companion could come here and share some testimony with us, would that be asking for too much?" she sweetly sing-sang, in a tone no one in their right mind could possibly resist. "I'm sure they have very interesting things to share with us, in our ever lasting quest for illumination and salvation..."

The icy, revolting feeling in the depths of Celenike's gut only grew even fiercer.

From the window of a hotel room across the boulevard, two other women watched down on this scene, the white haired one holding binoculars against her face. The short haired one did not need them.

"What do you think?" Olga Marie Animusphere asked Mash Kyrielight.

"I'm even more convinced now, Director, Sessyoin-san is the woman we are looking for," a quietly troubled Mash said. "And I think she's found another in one of those she has just called over."

Olga nodded. "Agreed. Father told me about this once, often Masters would resort to showing themselves or their Servants out in the open, depending on how bold they were, to lure those who would otherwise remain hidden. If Sessyoin is a Master, then she has just identified one rival, or even two, without a need to engage them in battle immediately. Gives her time to calculate and plan, while keeping her own Servant a secret. Are you completely sure you can't sense any of them anymore?"

"It would seem I lost that ability after incarnating," Mash replied. "The little child, I feel something about her, but I'm not fully sure. Sorry..."

Olga sighed. "Father would probably just have employed the Magus Killer to snipe at them from here, and we would have from one to three less people to worry about..."

"I'm actually quite more pleased with the Director's approach to matters, if I can say, even if they are slower to yield results," Mash humbly said.

"No," Olga said. "I'm not even half the researcher and magus he was." Looking at a reluctant Celenike and Foreigner, and a quite willing Kitami, step up onto the podium with Sessyoin, she scowled. "Well, let us see what do they do, now..."

* * *

A tall, imposing man in a black and dark grey suit walked up a long abandoned, narrow road on a mountain of Greece, one of the few left above sea level nowadays. His face was lean and elongated, with a jutting chin and a shark's placid smile, and in a hand he held the leashes for two hideous, small dogs, one of them scrawny, the other chubby and bowl-legged, who rushed ahead of him, sniffling all around and moving ever nervously, in contrast with the leisurable pace of their owner.

"Don't get antsy yet, boys," adviced the man, with a smooth, relaxed voice, that of a self assured silver tongued devil, according to the winning look in his eyes as he looked uphill. "What's the hurry? It's not like we're making anyone important wait."

Eventually, they reached the small clearing in the woods, almost reaching the top of the mountain, where a woman and another man waited for them, none clearly all too pleased. She was youthful and beautiful, with large blue eyes, and her long hair pulled back into a thick ponytail, wearing a white dress and high heeled shoes. "Hey, hey, Eris," the tall older man waved at her, wiggling his long, bony fingers. "Fancy dress for a social meeting, not so much for a hike through the woods. How's the boyfriend?"

"Hoss is fine, thanks for asking," Eris coldly said, briefly showing the large gap between her front teeth. "Can we begin now?"

"Just a moment, please," the taller man said, casually letting go of the twin leashes, which evaporated with a hiss of sulphur, just as the dogs morphed into two tiny, just as ugly imps, who bowed respectfully for those present. "Pain, Panic. Go mark our territory," the man calmly told them, rolling his sleeves up even as his suit changed into a long dark grey and black long robe, and his skin turned sickerningly pale, almost blueish. His hair puffed up, going into a burst of blue fire dancing over his scalp, and his teeth grew even sharper and longer while he rubbed his hands. "Ares, dear nephew. Nice to see you again, too. Congrats on an improved quota over last year's!"

"Uncle," said the old, gray gentleman in an all black suit, then changing in the blink of an eye into a hulking, fully armored figure with a horned helmet covering the whole of his head but two wrathful, shining eyes. "You haven't changed at all."

"Well, you know, boy, I and Taxes," Hades chuckled good naturedly, reaching over to pat him on a huge shoulderpad. Then he sighed, looking around. "Hard to believe, huh, it ever was here in the first place."

"We are all that remains," Eris shrugged, pulling a shiny red apple out of her Dior handbag and taking a first lazy bite from it, "But I can't say I'm torn because of it."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Hades made a vague hand gesture. "Turns out all I had to do was to wait, what a good joke! Not that there's much to take away from the Big Boy anymore, anyway."

Ares growled, pulling one of his many swords out and starting drawing the circle on the dirt with its tip. "Do you seriously believe this will suffice? It has been so long, even for us."

"Why wouldn't it work, kiddo?" Hades asked him. "We're still gods, aren't we? Death, Discord and War, when have we been more powerful than right now?"

"I'm not worrying about _**our**_ power," Ares made himself clear. "I'm talking about **_his_**."

"Eh," Hades shrugged. "If it doesn't work here, it won't work anywhere else. We'll worry about that later, if it comes to pass. I'm pretty sure we'll get someone else, if not him. Maybe Hephaestus. Might make for a decent Caster. I figure you haven't had weapons that good in a long time, considering even you can't really wield a nuke around."

"No, I haven't," Ares confirmed, finishing the design as Eris looked down at it, like an avid harpy. "It'd be nice, to have some of his forgings at hand again. Stand in place, now."

Hades huffed, him, his niece and nephew moving around the circle to stand at opposite ends of each other. "No hand holding, please," he requested. "I don't think it'll be necessary, and frankly, I don't like it when our reunions get all mushy."

"You like break my heart, old man," Eris sneered, as they gathered power and released it across the circle, with the greatest of ease. No sung words were necessary, no chants of spells. They were beings above all of that, all three of them. She was the first one to feel the new presence rising. "It's working. But... like, sort of. It's.. It's... Oh, damn, don't tell me, it's..."

And the light exploded upwards from the circle, and at the middle of it appeared a woman, much taller and even more curvaceous than Eris, clad in a tight white dress, with generous cleavage showing off her abundant bustline. Long silver hair cascaded down her back, framing her beautiful, kindly smiling face. She was spotlighted in place by the pale moonlight, and all three of her summoners grimaced at the sight of her and the tiny, brown plush animal sitting at the top of her head. In a hand she held a large bow, and there was a silver quiver full with sharp arrows slung around her shoulder.

She opened her round, crystal clear eyes with long eyelashes, and looked at them alll with the utmost, brightest warmth, even as the tiny animal perched on her shivered and began whimpering to itself. "Well," she said. "Isn't this a nice surprise! Hello again, Uncle, Dear Brother... and Eris." This last part was told with sudden, considerable added coldness to her voice, but the cheerfulness returned just as soon. "I'm Archer, known in life as Orion, Greatest of Hunters!"

"Good evening, Artemis," Eris replied in an extremely icy voice.

"Artemis?" the bustier woman blinked adorably. "Ah, I'm afraid you must be mistaking me with someone else, Eris...!"

"Please someone kill me already," the small animal on her muttered.

Hades was not in the mood by now. "Sorry, my boy," he grunted, folding his hands together until they ached. "All of a sudden, I'm not in generous spirits anymore, you know?"

* * *

"I still don't like this," Saber murmured, later that afternoon, sitting at the table and having dinner with Taiga, Shirou, Miyu and Caster. "It seems so... wrong! It's only one pair of irregular Servants at best, counting Father, it's not like it calls for anything like this! Sheesh!"

"Later this afternoon," the television news were reporting from the next room, "controversial religious leader Sessyoin Kiara made a public reapparance in Academy City, after months of absence from the mass media. The self proclaimed Guru of Enlightment Through Physical Bonding staged a meeting at Himeno Fumi Square, which finished without any further incidents..."

"Keep your allies close and your enemies even closer, Saber," Caster lectured her. "I wouldn't say this is a bad development in the slightest, as we've gathered more intelligence on the rest of players. I trust you didn't tell them anything about this Bat-Man of America?"

Shirou sighed, barely touching his plate. "No, it would've been too complicated to explain on top of everything else. Besides, you can tell he values his privacy way too much, and maybe we should just respect that. What do you think about it, Caster, Fuji-nee? Was it the right thing to do?"

"Yes, I would say so," Caster estimated. "After all, we have no way of knowing if those young women will keep their end of the bargain or not. Better if they don't know all there is to learn about us."

"I don't know. I couldn't imagine Tohsaka doing anything too awful," Shirou mused aloud. "It's not like she has contracted with Satan or anyone like that..."

"Oh, you surely would be happier working along the Great Noble Hero of Ireland rather than a traitor to his crown!" Mordred said.

"I never said that!" Shirou defended himself. "I'd much rather have you, Saber."

"Oh, yeah?" she frowned. "And why is that?"

Despite himself, Shirou had to crack a small smile. "At least you haven't ever been forced to act like a cat before your Master."

Saber blinked at that, then actually laughed out loud, slapping Shirou on a shoulder, making him wince in pain. Luckily for him, she wasn't wearing the armor. "Hah! That was a good one, Master! Maybe there's hope for you yet, after all!"

Shirou rubbed the large fresh red mark on his shoulder as Miyu looked at it with concern. "I sure hope so, especially in what concerns to this arm..."

"In other international news," the television newscaster was saying, "a mass escape has been reported from the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane of Gotham City... again. Over a dozen of murderous serial killers including the Joker, Harvey Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Black Mask and the Condiment King are reported on the large... again. Police Commissioner James Gordon's only comment on the subject was reassuring the news agencies a martial law state had been declared until the recapture of the fugitives, including the intervention of agents of SHIELD and the National Guard... again..."

"Hm!" Taiga said. "Maybe this wouldn't have happened if that guy had stayed back there instead of coming to snoop over here!"

"How is that his fault, is he the warden or director of that super-jail, or whatever they call it?" Shirou sighed, shaking his head. "Cut him some slack, Fuji-nee..."

"Oh, someone is a superhero fanboy here!" Saber chuckled.

"There's nothing bad in admiring people who give everything for others without expecting anything in return!" Shirou argued.

"That," Saber began lecturing him then, growing more serious even if not fully so, "is where you're wrong, Master. Someone who thinks of themselves as nothing but a tool for others to use is nothing but a fool deluding themselves. In truth, you can't really help others if you don't have the presence of mind to first help yourself. People don't want or need a robotic savior to stand over them, they need a flesh and blood hand to guide them along. They need to see their heroes are just as human as them, and that they deserve their own happiness as much as anyone else. If you torture yourself for others to the point of denying your own identity, like these so-called 'superheroes' seem to do, you'll be naught but a hollow shell unworthy of directing anyone's life down a safe path! How could you, if you haven't even found your own?!"

Everyone around the table stared in stunned shock at her then.

Saber frowned. "... what?!"

"Saber!" Caster said. "That was incredibly profound and wise from you!"

"Hey, just because I charge into battle without thinking first and recognize violence as the safest and quickest way to solve short term problems, that doesn't mean I'm a brute! I have long term vision as well!"

"Now for a word of our sponsors..." the television said now, and Taiga tilted her head bck towards it.

"Oneesama?" Miyu asked.

"Shhh, Miyu-chan," the adult said. "I want to see what important plot development NHK is going to hint at next...!"

"Cut the joking!" Shirou asked her. "What kind of hints for the future could you get from the commercials?"

The publicity spot running at that moment was proudly announcing, "Shinohara Rectal Lotion, another product of Shinohara Labs! The best relief against hemorrhoids!"

"Oh, oh, oh," Saber said. "I hope that doesn't mean Master's going to be anally raped soon...!"

"Why me?!" Shirou gasped.

Someone rang at the front door then.

"The omen of your anal devastation has arrived, Master...!" Mordred boomed at Shirou, in amused sinister fashion. Kotomine might have been impressed.

"Stop that already, there's a child present!" Shirou scolded her. "Caster, is that-?"

"It should be," Caster said, in a dettached and enigmatic fashion, "safe enough to check, I suppose."

Shirou blinked at her, unsure of what to make of that, but then just stood up. "Okay, then..." he said, moving for the door, and opening it. "Good afternoon, how may we help y- Oh, it is... you!" he blinked at the person standing before him. "What a nice surprise, but... is, is your grandfather okay? You... You look pale..."

Matou Sakura raised large, soulfully crushed purple eyes up at Shirou, and surprisively grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Sempai, please," she asked with a cracking voice, "I need your help!"

* * *

"This era must be congratulated on your great advancements in the field of blasphemy," the tainted Caster said, moving back and forth across the edge of the private landing field, hands clasped together and squrming blck creatures mostly comprised of tentacles and eyes hounding his every erratic step. "Back during my times, you will see- dark, oprobious days full of ignorance compared to yours- it was believed man never could fly, as that was a privilege reserved for the angels. And pigeons, I suppose! But now, your genius allows you to go even beyond Earth's atmosphere!"

He pointed a scrawny arm up at the nocturnal sky and cackled. "You come ever closer to scratching God's nose! No, to slash it, even! Slice it off His face, and see what drops upon the planet! A cornucopia of His gifts to drown mankind, no doubt. Yes! I shall submit a Pioneer of the Stars to my will and make them perform this most obscene miracle! But first... first I need a Master. And behold!" the pointing finger swept towards the East, and the prickle of light approaching through the heights. "He delivers it to me, so I can be granted the means to test myself against His Will! Thank you, Overlord of All Things I Have Profanated! The plane! _**The plaaaaaaaane!"**_

Adelt sighed miserably to himself, wondering if this bastard could ever shut up. He stood surrounded by a few men he hadn't dispatched away yet. Only those who had no families and who had insisted on staying with him to the end, for which in truth he felt honestly thankful. If only he actually could repay them in any way.

"He's coming now, dear," he sadly told his daughter over the cellphone. "Don't worry about me. Just... Just don't bother your boyfriend too much, will you, please?" He rubbed his eyes, even as one of his killers firmly squeezed his shoulder, and shook his head. "Tell your mother I'll always love her. And you. Goodbye, Chitoge-chan."

Adelt cut the call, trying to ignore his daughter's pleas, and looked at the incoming plane along the tumultously breathing, blushing monster who had moved along to stay by his side. "He's here. He's here, he's here, I hardly can believe it!" Caster repeated under his breath, with childlike intensity. "Descending just for me, this most exquisite of gifts, finally, someone to complement me again...!"

The airplane landed without any difficulties, and Adelt breathed in deeply, deciding not to delay the unavoidable. He marched towards the flying vehicle, and so did his men. After a moment of pause and anxiety, so did Caster, skitting nervously while tapping his fingers against each other. They stopped by the exit door, as the stairway was brought from the hangar by several burly henchmen, and as soon as it was secured in place, the door flew open from the inside, with a forceful shove.

A dead man instantly dropped down the stairway.

His skin all bleached down to a ghastly white, the corners of his mouth grotesquely pulled up in a grinning rictus. The sign of the clown, known worldwide by now, and Adelt's hardened men trembled like terrified toddlers.

Next, without any warning, another dead crewman, his face blanketed on red lipstick marks, his flesh all overran by fungous growth breaking through his skin. He plummeted on top of the first, and then dropped a third corpse, horribly scarred and ripped apart as if by some large and brutal creature. Finally, a man mostly untouched, except for a large, sharp question-mark shaped blade embedded through his forehead.

Adelt and his men backed away, gripped by a primal fear that went beyond what they had been expecting for.

Caster only made a low, cooing, fascinated sound, the bulbous eyes beginning to stream tears in moved silence.

Finally, the pilot of the ship, visibly pale and rattled, came down on shaky legs, stumbling over to Adelt, and gripping him by the lapels of the suit. "S-Sir! Please forgive me, Sir! I... I never should have brought these... these animals along! What they did, what they have done, what they will do...!"

Adelt, shaken as he was himself, managed to comfort him, patting his back. "D-Don't worry. You've done well for the family. You'll be rewarded, and I promise you won't be hurt..."

The pilot grinned widely. "Oh, I don't doubt that!" he suddenly said, with a voice that was not his own.

Adelt blinked, even as the pilot's left arm turned immediately into a huge axe, and he swung it aside, towards Caster's throat. The Servant barely could blink, even as the gigantic blade cut through his Adam's Aple. Then he got it, and laughed, backpedalling on dancing feet, giddily bleeding black all over. "Ohhhhh, I understand! Ohhhhh, this is much better than I dared to hope for! Much better, much better! Thank you! I welcome, then, you..." he grandly bowed for the plane, a hand on his chest and his head almost collapsing onto his neck even as it healed back just as quickly, "... all"

There was a raspy amused chortle, and the white faced Duke of Death came down the stairway, with a young shapely woman in the skintight red and black of a harlequin grabbing him by an arm, resting her grinning head on his shoulder. He was pushing the stabbed and bleeding dying actual pilot of the plane down before themselves, walking all over him even as the false pilot let go of Adelt and changed into a towering, hulking humanoid mass of dark brown, oozing mud with burning yellow eyes.

"Mother of all that is holy...!" Adelt breathed out in a kind of terror he had never experienced before, not even at the hands of the now jubilant Caster, who wept on profusely, kissing his own hands and tossing them up.

The Joker shrugged nonchalantly, while behind him, more and more monsters descended the airship. A scaly shirtless behemoth licking the blood staining all over his oversized sharp claws. A man who was half ruggedly handsome and half grotesquely scarred, wrapped in a long black and white trenchcoat. A voluptuous, barefoot red haired woman of pale greenish skin, wearing only a tight one piece made of leaves sewn together. A thin, frail looking man in a green suit and bowler hat, holding a question mark topped golden staff in his hands. An even lankier man in the ragged straw stuffed clothes of an old scarecrow, with a large crow perched on his shoulder. And finally, a small, pudgy, gray old man with glasses and a black suit with bowtie, carefully keeping a wooden dummy clothed like a Prohibition era gangster against his chest with a hand, and a large Tommy gun in the other.

"Sorry," the clown said. "There was no room for her, so we had to toss her out. Now, which one of you is the wizard? The one who wouldn't die when he's killed, I would assume...?"

* * *

 **End of Chapter Six.**

* * *

 **A Challenge.**

"Emiya Shirou," Illya read her latest draft out loud. "Since you left me, I haven't stopped thinking about you..."

"That," Sella opined, "probably will send the wrong message."

"You're right," Illya groaned, crunching the sheet down into a ball and throwing it back over a shoulder, until it hit Leysritt on the forehead. Then Illya began writing again, reading as she worked, "Shirou, I want to engage you and your sister in a heated three way encounter..."

"While I agree that cur doesn't deserve being called the surname of your father, the rest of that sentence doesn't quite sound right either," Sella said.

Illya growled, ripping the new sheet apart and then starting another. "Arrrrghhh! Fine, how about this one! Shirou, I need to see you-"

"No!" Sella shook her head, and after a moment, so did Leysritt, clumsily.

"Shirou, come to me or else!"

"That won't work either!" Sella disapproved.

"Shirou, Berserker and I will pounce on you and keep going all night long...!"

"That sounds positively scandalous! What would your grandfather think!"

"Waaaaahhhhh!" Illya threw her hands up, and then blinked as she was tapped lightly on a shoulder. "Eh?" she side glanced at her Servant. "Do you want to write it for me, Berserker?"

Penthesilea nodded without a word.

Illya blinked again, then handed her a just ripped off sheet and a pen. "Sure, why not, if you think you can..."

Shortly after, Leysritt bowed at Shirou, and then turned around and left his doorstep, walking away slowly.

Shirou looked down at the envelope she had just given him, opened it, and pulled out a sheet on which someone had roughly doodled a map for a duel at a nearby park, so crudely the pen had left holes at several parts of the sheet. Written all over the map, _**ACHILLES ACHILLES ACHILLES ACHILLES ACHILLES**_ , and at the very bottom, a tiny and carefully calligraphied, _And also bring your little sister_.

Shirou grimaced. "Is this how Batman-san feels when he's sent a riddle?"

* * *

 **Heroes.**

"My dream?" Shirou repeated. Then he smiled faintly. "My dream is being... a Hero of Justice. Like my father was."

"I see, that's a very commendable goal!" Negi smiled proudly. "Or like my father, right?"

Shirou blinked. "Oh... I'm sorry. Who's your father, Sensei?"

"Nagi Springfield, the Thousand Master, of course!"

"Who is that?"

Negi lost his smile.

"He'll never be a Hero of Justice," he dryly told a confused Chisame as he left the room, passing by her. "He doesn't deserve it."


End file.
